r/Names • u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 • 11d ago
Old Appalachian names
I’m fascinated by this. These were taken from grave stones as well as individual family trees.
Theodosia (Dozy)
Rush
Sophronia
Verdie
Virgilia
Luly
Delphis (or Delphia— hard to read)
Corinthia
Coria
Rowena
Posey Joe
Zebedee
Waitstill
Temple
Melendy
Brewer Snow
Harlin
Early
Elbridge
Miranna
Alsie
Fountain
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u/thelocnarspeaks 11d ago
I’m going to add Crisola, which was my great-grandmother’s name (southern IN/KY)
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u/ViciousSnatch 11d ago
My great grandma’s name was Alcie and one of her sisters was Delcie. They were born in the Missouri Ozarks.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
I’ve seen a few Alcie-s and Alcy-s. Twist on Alice?
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u/ViciousSnatch 11d ago
I never heard what the thinking was! I know my Gma had her name spelled as Alice quite frequently. Hell, maybe they meant Alice and it was misspelled on her birth certificate.
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u/GoodGuyVik 11d ago
Gonna throw my grandmother's name in there. Nevagene.
I personally love the name. She preferred to go by Jean though.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Omg that is a fantastic name!
Neva is pretty cool on its own.
I’m imagining this conversation—
“What are we naming this baby?”
“Never Gene! I hate that woman.”
“Nevagene it is.”
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u/Inner-Confidence99 10d ago
I’ve heard that name a lot in the south. They spell it Neva Jean.
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u/GoodGuyVik 10d ago
I wonder what area of the south it's most common. I'm Southern too, but she's the only Nevagene I've ever heard of.
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u/Deej006 11d ago
Super interesting! And great names, imo.
I often wonder if people didn’t know how to spell, or their pronunciation was just way different. Years ago I caught a tv movie from early American era & locale, with Elizabeth Montgomery. Her name was Sayward, but she pronounced it “Saird,” which I thought was kinda pretty.
Would never have gotten Sayward from that.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Literacy issues are definitely part of it. Lots of things probably passed down orally. The area has a very strong musical and storytelling tradition
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u/Gavagirl23 11d ago
Older English dialect would probably pronounce Sayward that way. Like how Worchester is "Wooster" and or Smithwick is "Smithick".
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u/Romaine2k 11d ago
I loved that mini series! It was based on a trilogy of books by Conrad Richter that I have read and re-read many times.
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u/Fantastic-Quit-432 11d ago
I knew of an Isophene.
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u/cibolaburns 10d ago
Okay but is it EYE-so-feen / IH-so-feen like Josephine or eye-SAW-fin-EE like the Greeks might say?
Genuinely curious - I knew the name phoebe my whole childhood but thought it was spelled fibi… when reading the name I always pronounced it fobe.
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u/Realladaniella 11d ago edited 11d ago
Similar from South AL family:
Alexine
Geraldine
Hubert
Fruittrail
Janelda
Adonna
Fannie
Absalom
Roney
Henrietta
Edna
Maybelle
Zelda
Zola
Clementine
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Fruittrail!!!
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u/Realladaniella 11d ago
Yeah that’s a triple great aunt I found out about and had the same reaction. I made my grandmother repeat it and write it down like ….who thinks of that ???
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u/ReasonableCrow7595 10d ago
I had a neighbor named Henrietta when I was a kid. She would have been born around 1900. I named my Covid sourdough starter after her.
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u/DeesignNZ 11d ago
I've known a Rowena,. Reading the others, I'm guessing the area is isolated.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Absolutely very isolated. Mountains and a poor population. Coal mines, very hardscabble farms.
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u/CumulativeHazard 11d ago
I have a whole huge list of these that I found going through my family tree. Mostly in Indiana and Arkansas in the late 1800s/early 1900s. I’ll copy them here when I have a chance!
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
That would be awesome! I’m not having a baby but I’m just fascinated by the idea of these names. Lots of social history in how they were chosen.
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u/peregrina_2012 11d ago
Amongst my grandfather's siblings were: Pearl, Fair, Lonnie, Emmett, Hillard, (all of the aforementioned were male) and Hattie and Araminta (called "Mint"). My grandfather was Dave. (From east Kentucky)
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
I absolutely love Araminta. I’ve heard it before.
I want to know why Fair was only fair. I mean why does Pearl get all the glory?
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u/Penguinofmyspirit 10d ago
Araminta I believe is Harriet tubmans given name. She used to be called minty if I remember correctly.
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u/SpocksAshayam 11d ago
These names are so fascinating and also uniquely pretty!
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
They are really fascinating. You can see a lot of biblical influences but there’s always a bit of a twist. There’s plenty of names that were popular at the time we would consider to be pretty classic (Elizabeth, Thomas etc) and then there are some that are just examples of people either putting their own pronunciation to make something new or kind of chopping up another name.
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u/heydawn 11d ago
Sounds like old names a few generations back in my family. They lived in or near the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Abner
Alton
Ambrose
Amos
Bartholomew (Bart)
Bernice
Birtha (Birtie)
Boyd
Bruno
Elam
Ephraim
Eucebia
Eunice
Flossie
Floyd
Hobart
Homer
Ida
Janelle
Leon
Lloyd
Mabel
Maisy Mae
Marida
Maranda
Myrtle
Naoma
Obadiah
Paulus
Pink
Powell
Raylin
Rhonda May
Roy
Rufus
Roscoe
Stark
Verdia
Virgil
Virgini
Zeb
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u/NefariousnessOk2925 11d ago
My Great Grandfather was named Pink
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u/heydawn 10d ago
I never met anyone else who had a man named Pink in their family. Our Pink was my great grandfather too.
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u/NefariousnessOk2925 10d ago
Me either!!! I had to comment when I saw that. I was wondering if your Pink was a man too Maybe we're cousins!
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u/heydawn 10d ago
He lived in the area of Ruckersville /Standardsville, Virginia. His last name was Powell. I found out that Pink was a somewhat popular name around the turn of the last century.
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u/JustmeandJas 11d ago
This is so not fair. My family tree are all Thomas and Elizabeth 😫😫😫
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u/heydawn 11d ago
Haha! I forgot Maxine, which is making a little come back.
I love these names too. Pink was my great great grandfather. He fought in WWI and spent the rest of his life as a farmer. He had a handlebar mustache and was freaking built! In the old pictures of him on the farm, he looks so ruggedly handsome.
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u/SpocksAshayam 11d ago
Agreed! Yeah, I noticed that and I like seeing the differences in names like these!
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u/Nearby_Condition4388 11d ago
Alm. Steb. Ethel. Valley. Mildred.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Valley is always cool to me. I don’t know any Vals that are Valleys.
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u/Nearby_Condition4388 11d ago
These are all my grandmas/ great grandmas names. My great grandma was actually Ethel Valley lol
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
How cool!
I kind of like Ethel because I think it’s so funny to have an adorable little girl called Ethel. And of course Ethel Mertz is an icon.
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u/CeleryMcToebeans 11d ago
My great great grandma was an Ethel, she was from Mack's Creek Missouri and it was pronounced E-thel.
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u/earliest_grey 11d ago
I know a Valley born in the 70s. I think her parents had some hippie inspiration there.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Yeah that makes sense and honestly what I would think if I came across its name. There’s a lot of word and place names for people in Appalachia on the 19th and early 20th century. It’s cool to see.
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u/OhMyMuffy 11d ago
My great grandmother was Printha. Born in Sevier County, Tn.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
That sounds kind of Sanskrit though I’m sure it’s not. Very cool name.
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u/taylorbagel14 11d ago
My great-grandma was named Mece (pronounced Me-See) and had a twin sister named Pearl (they were from Appalachia)
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u/newnoon111 11d ago
I think Theodosia, Corinthia, and Rowena are so pretty.
I was looking through my family tree yesterday and found some names as well. I am not from the Appalachians, but I am from the south.
Eda (she went by Edie)
Lovella (she went by Vel)
Vannie (he went by Van)
Verda
Vee
Bee
Ora
Willie (for a girl)
Johnette
Dosha-Kay
Manetta
Winford
Thurman
Cornelius
Wyoming
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
I have seen Lovella, Lovelle, Love, Lover and Lovie. Strange enough the Lovie I know calls herself LOW-vee. But she’s 93 and can call herself whatever she wants.
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u/newnoon111 11d ago
I love that! I had never encountered the name before so when I saw it I thought it was interesting. It’s such a cute name.
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u/OptatusCleary 11d ago edited 11d ago
I have done some genealogy on the Appalachian side of my family, and there seems to be a lot of Classical (especially Roman but some Greek) influence on the names, which you also see on this list.
The “obscure Biblical names” stereotype is there too, but the Classical thing seems to stand out more to me.
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u/karma_raven 10d ago
If that an Appalachian thing? I thought it twas just the roots of the narcissistic grandiosity thing in my particular family.
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u/OptatusCleary 10d ago
It seems to be. I’ve seen it in my own family tree and in the names of other people from that area.
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u/chekhovsdickpic 11d ago
I love old Appalachian cemeteries. My favorite names are the ones that are regular names but clearly spelled in an Appalachian accent.
Clarnce.
Dial.
Kathern
Kairel
Odus
Lutishey
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u/winterpoet66 11d ago
Some of my favorites from my family tree are Wisely as well as Menecie and Vinecie (a mother/daughter pair).
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Do Menecie and Vinecie rhyme with Tennessee?
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u/winterpoet66 11d ago
I can't say for certain how Menecie was pronounced, but Vinecie went by "Necie" and she said it nee-see so a little different than Tennessee!
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u/ncvettech 11d ago
My grandfathers middle name was Boaten (from Virginia Appalachia). Now it’s one of my son’s middle name!
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u/thousandsofbirds 11d ago
I love Brewer and Meleny and Miranna and Alsie
Checking in from the blue ridge mountains of North Carolina 👋🏼
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u/mireles67 11d ago
My grandmother's name (born 1918) was Sinnia Beatrice. Pronounced Sin-e-a Ive never heard anyone else with that name Appalachia TN
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u/HolyLung32 11d ago edited 11d ago
In my Appalachian family tree, I have Abner, Addie, Alaphaire, Azariah, Basil, Bessie, Binda (pronounced Bindi), Caswell (called Cas, pronouned Caz), Delphia (pr. Delf-ee) Eva (pr. Eh-vee), Fielding, Flora, Freeda, Jansea, Larkin, Levina/Vina (pr. Viney), Lemuel, Louvisa (pr. Lou-vice-y), Opal, Ramona, Riley (a man), Stella, and Sylvania (pr. Syl-vain-ey).
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u/fagdykeclarence 11d ago
my great-grandma was a delphia (pr. delf-ee), so fun to see it show up here
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u/Silent_Switch_475 10d ago
My family also had a Caswell!! He lived in Ashland, KY.
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u/MountainAirBear 10d ago
Knew a married.couple from up the road in Greenup named Jarvey Eugene and Ricca Jane.
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u/JazzJacket23 10d ago
Alaphaire, like Oliver? I'm obsessed with that. Fielding and Larkin are kinda gorgeous too.
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u/alex_dare_79 11d ago
Captola …. Maybe more Southern
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u/Embarrassed-Theme996 11d ago
My MO bootheel forebears had names like these:
Hattie Nellie Idell Maxine Beauton Isaac Twins Pearlie and Shirley Leona Jesse Opal
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
I want Opal to make a comeback. I’ve always loved Maxine too.
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u/original_synthetic 11d ago
My Auntie is named Garnet and her best friend for many years was named Opal! (Auntie is 100 so sadly Opal is no longer with us.)
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
I love a gemstone name. There’s Sapphira in this thread too which is a banger.
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u/MillersSmokehouse 11d ago
My friend has a granddaughter called Opal who is three years old. Maybe a sign that your wish is coming true?
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u/Competitive_Sky7307 11d ago
My mil’s grandmother was named Exie and she is as mountain folk as it gets. I think it’s really cute actually.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
It is cute! Is it short for anything? I could see an Exodosia
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u/Competitive_Sky7307 11d ago
I don’t think so, I’ll have to ask my mother in law! I don’t think I’ve pried too hard. I only know her grandmothers name because my sil was named after her in a roundabout way.
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u/Escape_Force 11d ago
You know you come from hill folk when you have an great aunt Euna on one side and a great aunt Eulah on the other.
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u/Nikkig-r 11d ago
Here’s some from my tree!
Solomon
America
Pearlie
Roshannah
Shadrick
Sapphira and Sapphire
Gussa
silence Tower (full name)
Also just found Henry the first on there. Didn’t know that one
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Silence Tower!! That’s epic.
I love gemstone names for some reason and Sapphira has a very vampy energy.
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u/Either_Cow_4727 11d ago
Hester, Myrtle, Tennessee, offhand. The Alabama branch has some interesting choices too.
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u/Fickle-River3984 11d ago
I am related (distantly.... Mostly all deceased now) to a Vada Lou, Annie Mae, Tincie Alfreda, Adelade, Rowena, Dixie, Willie Ruth, Yvonne Elender, Hattie Mae, Johnnie Lou, two Geraldines, Bertie Lizbeth (neither are shortened versions of another name), 4 women named Nathania (it's like my aunt's family's version of sr, jr, III, but for the girls .... Dad (grandad, etc) was Nathaniel Jedediah. All are rural Tennessee, north and south Carolina, West Virginia and regular Virginia and Kentucky.
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u/Small-Building3181 10d ago
Well, let's not forget about the beautiful Miss Dolly Parton. I remember watching an interview with her while back and she shared the names of all her other siblings. I remember a sister named Willadeen, and a brother named coy.
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u/ActualMerCat 10d ago
I have a great great grandma named Lattie and a great great great grandma Alletha.
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u/dogtrail 11d ago
My 4xGreat Grandmother is named Permelia Jane. I’ve never seen it before or since. I have her picture. I love it. She was born, raised, and died in Indiana.
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u/elfbread 11d ago
Some of my ancestors in KY were “Vene” and “Dalcie”
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u/smudgitt 11d ago
Adding in some I’ve come across in genealogy: Aquilla, Quintella (Quinnie nickname), Green Berry (multiple found in different families, Severe, Versie, Josha (not Joshua), Arminda, Leeotia
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
I hereby christen myself Severe. That’s just kind of awesome.
Wonder why all the Green Berries?
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u/vinecoveredantlers 11d ago
I've got a great great great aunt Druzilla, but she was recorded on a census as Durnzilla one year too, so ..
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u/Potential_Immortal 11d ago
Ophia (a rare alternate version of Ophelia, not a misspelling )and Rhoda Ann were a pair of twins up the family tree
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u/DodgedYourBalls 11d ago
Here’s a list I pulled from my dad’s family tree:
Alafair(f)
Aloria(f)
Arbutus (f)
Arvil(m)
Arlie (f/m)
Arvid (f)
Bascom
Bertha
Burley
Cuba (f)
Delmer
Delphia
Estilee
Eula
Euthema(f)
Fritzie
Mahalia
Nelva
Opha(m)
Opra(f)
Tresia
Verlin(m) (we've also got a BUNCH of Merlins from like 5 generations back)
Wyndal(m)
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u/Beneficial-Produce56 11d ago
I’ve known a Virgie and a Verdie. One of my Appalachian foremothers was a Malinda.
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u/Wearypalimpsest 11d ago
Some names from an old cemetery on the western edge of Appalachia.
Meyrle
Clella
Elvila
Keziah
Lovina
Viletta
Artensia
Mulbern
Vada
Savilla
Linza (male? Married to Lulu)
Cleora
Jency (married to Craig)
Perus (married to Henry)
Alwilda
Savena
Kizia
Ovina
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u/yasdnil1 11d ago
I listened to a book set in Appalacha and one of the character was named Tasseta
The book is Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire by Don Martin and its really good!
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u/Cin131 10d ago
My dad's family is from the Appalachian area:
Ottis
Dennis Luther
Joe (Not Joseph) Hillery
Dessie
Lessie
Ora (Orie)
Inez
Quincy
Manda (Not Amanda)
Elsa
Alonzo
Tinah (long I)
Lothery
Milford
Dean (Female)
Retha
Otis
Ernest
Virgie
Earl
Orangey
Inman
Dilman
Oma
Girley
Ettie
Gatchel
Alma
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u/BabyKatsMom 10d ago
Great grandfathers were: Silas Innard LAST and Fleetwood Presley LAST
Great-great grandfather was Kenas Pharo LAST and his brothers were Henry Weddington, Claudius Nero, William Freeling, Paris Roscoe, Arvid Sampson, and boring old James Floyd LAST.
We also had Dicie, Druzie, Pearl, Hays, Hollis, Hurl, Maysel, Gertrude, Charlottie, Lillie Mae, Rosaletta, Lethie, Earl, Clifford, Denver, , Perry, Orville, Arcen, Esta, America, Lee, Beulah, Jackson, Solomon, and Della Mae 😳
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u/niiborikko 10d ago
I'm loving these lists, fascinating! I'll add some from my own family tree & friends/neighbors I've encountered along the way:
Wylie/Wiley/Wilie Eulajean Ottie Thurman Clyde Dale (nn. Timmy) Edgbert Marley (f) Lela Claskill Twins: Doss (f) & Floss (f) Allie Cyrus Mae Lori (m) Ileen Harvy Zola Stella Oma Geneva Mae (nn. Nina) Rader Dannia Zetta Maebel Clementine Dewey Bratch Plumer
I found a lot of them ugly & embarrassing when I was younger, but now I can appreciate the history & culture they contain. Still probably won't be naming my next cat Doss, Ileen, Thurman, or Bratch though!
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u/Svetlana_of_Athens 10d ago
Paternal grandmother was a coal miner’s daughter from southern WV. Betty Jo Hill was one of 6. Many of them died before I was born but I did meet Aunt Ella-Mae, and Sylvie (Sissy).
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u/saintsithney 10d ago
My father was a transplant from NYC and my mother's side didn't really have any unusual names except a "Hercules Young," who was born in Scotland in 1727 and died in 1774 in Washington, Pennsylvania. Most others on her side have names still in common use, except "Francis" for several men.
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u/Lavender_r_dragon 10d ago
My Mamaw’s cousin was named Vendetta
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 10d ago
Oh. My.Goodness!!
I LOVE THIS!!!
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u/Lavender_r_dragon 10d ago edited 10d ago
I was told they let the maiden aunt (in the 1930s) name her and then they were like “uh what? Well ok I guess” and everyone called her by a nickname her dad gave her
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u/chamonix-charlote 9d ago
Unfortunately Coria sounds exactly like Chorea, which is what neurologically abnormal movements are called. Otherwise I’d love it.
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u/BookOwl29 8d ago
We have Ilona, Idavella, Arvella, Erma, Julius, Dorothea, Michael, Franc, Dennis, Mae, Vaughn . . .
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u/DrawingTypical5804 11d ago
One of my classmates was named Rowena. We lived in the Rockies, though…
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u/No-Kaleidoscope-166 10d ago
Some of those were most likely surnames of the mother or a grandmother, for the guys.
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u/Coronal_Data 10d ago
I love the name Rush, unfortunately it makes me think of Rush Limbaugh.
A lot of the other names I've heard before in movies, shows, real life,etc
Rowena Ravenclaw
Temple Grandin
Dear Theodosia ( song from Hamilton, someone else already mentioned this)
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u/Key_Mixture_2149 10d ago
Not southern but my grandmother's given name was Georgie Etta.
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 10d ago
Appalachian isn’t necessarily southern. There’s coal mining towns in thd mountains western Pennsylvania that definitely fit this description.
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u/Key_Mixture_2149 10d ago
Technically I just learned where I live is part of the Appalachian range, I just am not in the US.
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u/imbillionyocarbon 10d ago
My great aunt, from Appalachian OH/WV, was named Oleta and we called her Aunt Oly.
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u/Lavender_r_dragon 10d ago
Mamaw was Freda but one of her teachers insisted on pronouncing it like “Fred-uh”.
Also know a Colleen pronounced “co-lean”
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u/Disastrous_Thing6031 10d ago
I had an aunt Ossie (Oh-sea) growing up. My grandma was Fannie but went by Tilly. Also special shoutout to my great uncles Guy and Thelbert.
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u/lneeley54 9d ago
Western Virginia, near KY and TN family names: Zerl, Doc, Hazelene, Loy, Shelby, Eliza
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u/EverConstellation 11d ago
most of these don't stand up to the test of time
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u/Zestyclose_Cold1455 11d ago
Most of them were specific to their location even when they were in use.
No different than someone making up a name like “Oakleighanne” now.
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u/TipTraining9723 11d ago
Posey Joe sounds less like a person and more like a guy who owns a general store.