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given name Austus
I have come across a name in family research that we cannot find any information on. If we knew what kind of name this was, it might help us find more out about the family. In several documents it is VERY CLEAR that the wife's name is Austus. Does anyone know what nationality this might be? She married an Irishman in Virginia in the early 1700's, and a few family members think her maiden name might be the English 'Newton'. There were some Germans in the community. Thanks.
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Austu is the Sicilian, Corsican, Sardinian form of August, so it might be from that? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_%28name%29) Austu means "dawns, becomes light" in Latvian... but I think it as a form of August is more likely. It appears in some English/American census records as a form of August (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gus_Hetling reference 2)
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I don't think that Augustus is the name behind Austus (first, it is not female, and Auguste or Augusta won't give Austus). Since Austus comes from census data, one might ask, are there female names that a census taker might miss-spell as Austus?I don't know any Irish or Welsh candidate names, but I see that Ásdis is a nordic female name.
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