Marilla, Fidesta, Abriella
I've recently been researching some family that was in Ohio in the early 1800s. The family consistently uses bizarre names like Marilla, Fidesta, Abriella, and Beulah to name their female children. I haven't been able to find out much about these names. Perhaps they have a certain religious background?Thanks,
Jonathan
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Marilla really wasn't at all bizarre back in the early 1800s. It was fairly common, and is the name of a main character in the famous "young adult" novel Anne of Green Gables. It was originally a short form of Amarilla, a "Latinized" form of Amaryllis.If you will click on the linked names Amaryllis and Beulah, you will find the origins of those as explained in the name dictionary on this site. Fidesta and Abriella are definitely much more unusual for the time period than Marilla and Beulah are. It's almost midnight now where I am so I will try and see if I can track down something about them tomorrow.
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