Wednesday, October 1, 2014

What is in a Name?

Someone asked about the first name of my great grandmother, Laura Winterton (1891-1962).  She died before I was born; I was told that she went by the name "Laura."  As I found her records, I saw that she also used the name "Laurel" and "Ethel."  She is not named on her birth certificate.  I entered the varying names into a chart to notice any pattern.  I'm not sure that there is a pattern.

For some clarity, I turned to prior generations to see who Laura may have been named after.  The source of the name may be a paternal aunt, born around 1858, listed as "Laura E. Winterton" in the 1860 and 1870 census; and dead before the 1880 census.





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