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[Facts] Isannah
I'm afraid I know nothing of the origin except that it's used for a female character in the book Johnny Tremain. I speculate it may be derived from Ysanne, but again, I have no real evidence to back my theory. Any information (including pronunciation) would be greatly appreciated.Thanks! :o)
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Paul Revere had a daughter named Isannah, born in 1773. I suspect that is where Esther Forbes got the name from. I have no idea where it came from or how it's pronounced.
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The old Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names had a truly ghastly entry: in the 18th century it appears that enough parents to be noticed by statisticians named their helpless daughters Frusannah, as a merger between Frances and Susannah. It seems possible therefore that Paul Revere might have done the same kind of thing, using Isabella and Susannah, both of which were fashionable at the time. It would I suppose have been pronounced eye-sannah, with pretty well equal stress on the first two syllables, given that the abbreviation for Isabella was Isa, pronounced eye-sa (this on the authority of my English great-aunt, who was known as Bella but always wrote Mrs Isa Lastname on the backs of envelopes!).But I can't prove it ...
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Lovely...I'd rather hoped it was a variant of Ysanne rather than a mish-mash of Isabella & Susannah. :o/ However, I'd say both theories have a little bit of merit and this may be one of those names of undetermined origin.

This message was edited 10/10/2007, 7:51 AM

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