Older cemeteries provide rich source of unique and melodious first names

Posted 12 February 2024 at 9:09 am

By Catherine Cooper, County Historian

“Illuminating Orleans” – Vol. 4, No. 7

Sadly, the name selected for this young person was not recorded on this studio photograph.

Our first names can reveal a lot about us – the era we were born in, ethnicity,

or religious background, for example. We tend to make assumptions about people based on their first names.

Faced with this responsibility, it is no wonder that expectant parents find that selecting a name for their newborn is a daunting prospect. Some prospective parents already have a favorite name in mind.

For the others, there are so many choices: family names, historical names, currently popular names, old fashioned names, or names associated with nationality or religion.

Will we name him Henry or Michael or Landon or Louis?

Should she be called Jordan or Aoife or Carol or Lydia or Emmalyn or Elizabeth?

Suggestions for names may of course be found in baby name books but as local historians can attest, older graveyards are a rich source of unique and melodious first names.

Thanks to a dedicated team of volunteers, burials at these cemeteries have been listed, a painstaking process. They have since been digitized and may be accessed from the comforts of home by clicking here.

Not surprisingly, there are many instances of demure and virtuous first names, for girls, of course: Charity, Content, Mercy, Patience, Thankful or Virtue.

There are many strong, aspirational name choices for the boys: Deliverance, Freelove, Noble, Philander or Victory.

Here is a list of possible first name choices, all found in the smaller rural cemeteries of Orleans County:

For boys: Adin, Adonijah, Archelaus, Birdsall, Boudoin, Dillis, Dimmick, Epaphras, Fordyce, Ithamar, Kenyon, Nehemiah, Obediah, Orephesus, Peleg, Polycarpus, Remick, Sellick, Theophilus, Ypsilanti, Zardius, Zebulon or Zenas.

For girls: Adelia, Alzoa, Athilla, Aurilla, Diadema, Gashea, Lutheny, Lynneota, Hepsey, Mehetable, Narcissa, Orilla, Perthenia, Philanda, Rosepha, Roxalana, Ruhama or Triphene.

Apart from these notable first names, there are some joyous combinations of first and last names also. Who could resist but linger over these names:

Content Swift (Yates Center Cemetery)
Freelove Hall (Pine Hill Cemetery)
Narcissa White (Tanner Cemetery)
Thankful Snow (1915 Census, Albion)
Victory Ball (Union Cemetery)
Wealthy Joy (Lynhaven Cemetery)

Let me know if you select any of these first name suggestions!

The study of personal names: Anthroponymy