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ArchivesRe: Loeta
in reply to a message by Warner Anderson
Hi Warner! It's exciting to correspond with another relative of a Loeta. I hope you see this.
My grandmother was named Loeta, born in Idaho - also in 1920. Maiden name Whitten. She was not native, but a member of different European settler lines going back to the Winthrop fleet in 1630. She did not know the origin of her name, other than thinking it may be Spanish from her family's time in California. I have come to believe that is incorrect.
Loeta is an uncommon name indeed, and there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer about it. I can tell you these things:
- The first Loeta that shows up in US census records does so in 1809.
- Loeta is similar (shares sounds etc) to several other names that were more popular in 1920 - Leota, Louise, Louella, Lola. This means it could simply be an invented name based off of name sounds popular at the time.
- Use of Loeta seems to be higher in the western US. Why this is, I'm not sure. There was something about the name that appealed to demographics there more than elsewhere.
- My grandmother was named after a relative born in 1893, Loeta Ursul. (No idea why it's recorded as Ursul and not Ursula, and if it is indeed supposed to lack the A.) Loeta's sister was named Ulrica Marguerite. Two unusual names. Knowing that they were unusual for their time, I looked into some kind of literary connection, thinking their mother or father was likely to be an imaginative reader. Ulrica could potentially be traced back to a family member reading Ivanhoe (published in 1820). Loeta could be traced back to 'Queen Loeta and the Mistletoe: A Fairy Rhyme for the Fireside', written and illustrated by George Halse, published 1857.
It's reasonable to say that someone who read this as a child between 1857 and 1870 might go on to have a daughter in 1893, and name her Loeta. Loeta is the fairy queen, and she is a shining character. I don't know where Halse would have picked up the name, or if he would have made up something that sounded new and fanciful (a popular route to take when naming a fairy queen). I do know that his book is the first place I can find records of the name Loeta in print.
Between the aforementioned census record of a Loeta in 1809 and the publication of Halse's book in 1857, there were a handful of Loetas -- about 16 that made census records. It is highly possible that some of these were typos, as transcriptions of this era of census records (and the census records themselves) are not terribly accurate. Many of these 'Loeta's may in fact have been Leotas. That said, starting around 1867 (perhaps when child/adolescent readers of 'Queen Loeta' grew old enough to have children themselves?) the name saw a sharp increase of use.
My grandmother never mentioned this book to me; I don't know if she knew about it. I don't think there are many copies floating around. But I believe it was that book that gave 'Loeta' the traction it needed to see use as a name. I'm sure many Loetas were named in tribute to older ones, as my grandmother was, or because one of their parents had heard the name and found it beautiful.
If you are able to view a PDF, you may view a beautiful quality scan of the original book here, cover and all:
http://static.torontopubliclibrary.ca/da/pdfs/37131039916861d.pdf
I hope you might have some grandchildren or great-grandchildren named Loeta one day. :)
My grandmother was named Loeta, born in Idaho - also in 1920. Maiden name Whitten. She was not native, but a member of different European settler lines going back to the Winthrop fleet in 1630. She did not know the origin of her name, other than thinking it may be Spanish from her family's time in California. I have come to believe that is incorrect.
Loeta is an uncommon name indeed, and there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer about it. I can tell you these things:
- The first Loeta that shows up in US census records does so in 1809.
- Loeta is similar (shares sounds etc) to several other names that were more popular in 1920 - Leota, Louise, Louella, Lola. This means it could simply be an invented name based off of name sounds popular at the time.
- Use of Loeta seems to be higher in the western US. Why this is, I'm not sure. There was something about the name that appealed to demographics there more than elsewhere.
- My grandmother was named after a relative born in 1893, Loeta Ursul. (No idea why it's recorded as Ursul and not Ursula, and if it is indeed supposed to lack the A.) Loeta's sister was named Ulrica Marguerite. Two unusual names. Knowing that they were unusual for their time, I looked into some kind of literary connection, thinking their mother or father was likely to be an imaginative reader. Ulrica could potentially be traced back to a family member reading Ivanhoe (published in 1820). Loeta could be traced back to 'Queen Loeta and the Mistletoe: A Fairy Rhyme for the Fireside', written and illustrated by George Halse, published 1857.
It's reasonable to say that someone who read this as a child between 1857 and 1870 might go on to have a daughter in 1893, and name her Loeta. Loeta is the fairy queen, and she is a shining character. I don't know where Halse would have picked up the name, or if he would have made up something that sounded new and fanciful (a popular route to take when naming a fairy queen). I do know that his book is the first place I can find records of the name Loeta in print.
Between the aforementioned census record of a Loeta in 1809 and the publication of Halse's book in 1857, there were a handful of Loetas -- about 16 that made census records. It is highly possible that some of these were typos, as transcriptions of this era of census records (and the census records themselves) are not terribly accurate. Many of these 'Loeta's may in fact have been Leotas. That said, starting around 1867 (perhaps when child/adolescent readers of 'Queen Loeta' grew old enough to have children themselves?) the name saw a sharp increase of use.
My grandmother never mentioned this book to me; I don't know if she knew about it. I don't think there are many copies floating around. But I believe it was that book that gave 'Loeta' the traction it needed to see use as a name. I'm sure many Loetas were named in tribute to older ones, as my grandmother was, or because one of their parents had heard the name and found it beautiful.
If you are able to view a PDF, you may view a beautiful quality scan of the original book here, cover and all:
http://static.torontopubliclibrary.ca/da/pdfs/37131039916861d.pdf
I hope you might have some grandchildren or great-grandchildren named Loeta one day. :)
This message was edited 6/19/2017, 6:18 PM
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