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Re: Old names from my family
Theodate would be an alternative form of Deodata = God-given. At that period, it would probably have sounded like thee-oh-daht or maybe thay-oh-daht. Not thee-oh-dayt, which would be our modern version.Could Alverey and Avery be the same? That L sound often gets 'lost'. Tisken looks like a dialectal form of Deutschen = German, especially if he was from the South, near Switzerland (where Swiss German is Schweitzer-Tysk, though my spelling might well be off). Ziriakus ... the Z and the C would sound the same, so probably Cyriakos = Kyriakos.Sabra is fascinating! It's a word in modern Hebrew, used for someone born in Israel, and for the prickly-pear cactus I think, and it used to be the name of an orange liqueur! 'Native-born'. But in 1674?Sconsolate looks like a word used as a name, like Joy or Dolores. Why the S, though? Disconsolate? Perhaps she cried a lot! Or, if the family had lost a child, she might have been their consolation. Civilla looks very like a word too, and a flattering one.Caton is a surname, which would make her a very modern-sounding woman. Perhaps a form of Cat(her)ine?Of course, with these and all old names, you're up against the often erratic spelling of the family, plus the erratic spelling and preconceived ideas of the priest or notary who wrote them down. Makes it difficult; makes it fun!
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Tisken looks like a dialectal form of Deutschen = German, especially if he was from the South, near Switzerland (where Swiss German is Schweitzer-Tysk, though my spelling might well be off).Actually, he was born near the Dutch border in Germany. His full name is Tisken an gen Doors. But that's a good idea, being from Deutschen, or maybe from Dutch? (Dietsen?)

This message was edited 9/10/2008, 12:36 PM

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