Unusual First Names

Over the years genealogy has brought before my eyes some very unusual first names.  Different surnames, different geographical areas, different periods of time, and often different religious beliefs have all played some role.  The next series of posts will deal with this subject for the surname JONES.

However, to begin this topic it might be helpful to present the most common first names being used among the JONES surname branches.  The first table shows some work from years past published in my family newsletter.  Of course for my own JONES family, Virginia was the geographic area.  The time period was 1623 - 1666 since this was when my folks began to cross the great pond.  In addition other common surnames like Smith, Williams, Johnson, and Brown were studied to discover if there were any differences in the first names that were being recorded.  The four most common first names were William, Richard, Thomas, and John for the surname JONES.  Other first names that were being used at least 100 times during this period are also shown.  Interestingly, William was the most common first name among our JONES family tree branches.

 The second table shows other first names for JONES compared to the different surnames evaluated.  Only the surname Williams (a Welsh surname) shared any of these first names with JONES.  None of these names were used with Smith, Johnson, and Brown.  This would suggest that JONES and JOHNSON were not of the same tree branches.  It is an interesting list of first names used among the JONES families during the period researched.

 The next series of posts will present the very unusual first names.  Let's go!