England Latin Versions of Given Names (National Institute)

Latin Versions of Given Names
Many early registers were kept in Latin, or what the cleric thought was Latin, particularly up to 1733. It is not uncommon to find Latin forms of given names for the labouring class in the registers even though the child was always known by the English version. Parents in a loftier sphere may have actually preferred to use the Latin version as the proper name. The common ones are given in Chart 5, however I have not included names that are virtually identical to the English except for the suffixes:


 * -us, -ius, or -dus for men
 * -a or -ia for women

Chart: Latin Versions of Some Common Given Names Note: Some are found with alternate spellings e.g. ae for e, au for al

The use of Latin ceased in most parish registers before the 1640s, but sometimes continued much longer than even the mid-18th century, especially in Catholic records. Latin parish register examples follow:

The researcher should also be aware of the Greek letter Chi which looks like a capital X. This was used as a symbol of Christ and thus occurs in such forms as:

___________________________________________________________________

Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English - Understanding Names in Genealogy offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.