Friday, July 29, 2011

Name Round-Up: Real Documented Romani Names

We interrupt the Harry Potter name profiles to bring you awesome. I have found a catalogue of old birth certificates of Romani children with their parent's names.

My understanding is that all of these records are from England with births throughout the 1800s and early 1900s. So many of the names are what I would expect from that place and time: Kate, Henry, Oliver, Matthew, Eliza, Sarah, James, Benjamin, Annie, Mary, Charlotte, Robert, Thomas...you get the idea. But here, I'm paying special attention to the glittery bits. There are some here that I can genuinely say I've never seen before in my life.

Keep in mind that these are from England only. There are many more unusual names from Gypsies in Spain, Turkey, Italy, Hungary, Germany, etc.

Girls

Analetta
Britann
Britannia
Carnation
Charity
Cinderella
Clementina
Defiance
Elderia
Ethelinda
Fiance
Florence
Freedom
Hester
Kezia
Lavinia
Leahlabel
Leander
Leighanabell
Lematina
Leonora
Leorable
Leviathan
Limatana
Looney
Lovey
Lovina
Maarah
Mahala
Mercy
Naomie
Ocean
Patience
Peanna
Penella
Penelope
Phyzante
Queenie
Rosella
Renie
Rhoda
Sabina
Selina
Sinfoy
Spisene
Teeannie
Theodosia
Tillie
Trainet
Trinity
Unity
Urania
Vertina

Boys

Abraham
Aladdin
Amberline
Ameline
Ananias
Boamos
Bohemas
Bohemia
Dangerfield
Dives
Dukey
Eladon
Ephraim
Gallius
Golden
Goliath
Hezekiah
Israel
Jessekiah
Job
Liberty
Llewellyn
Major
Merivel
Moses
Nehemiah
Neptune
Ocean
Onas
Power
Riley
Shipton
Sidney
Silvanus
Surrender
Sylfesta
Uriah
Vandilo
Vanlow
Wiflin
Windsor
Wisdom

Sources:
http://romanygenes.webeden.co.uk/#

Image Credit:
http://weheartit.com

2 comments:

  1. One of my great-grandmothers was Romani, and I adore Romani names and the Romani language!

    What I particularly love about (former) Romani naming practice is its eclecticism. The Romani people in the past suffered no angst about whether a name was 'genuine' or not. They plucked the choicest finds from wherever they happened to encounter them. Did it matter to them that Gilderoy was a notorious highwayman? Or Goliath the 'baddy' in his tale? Not a sausage!

    You'll find a lot of these in my book ;D.

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  2. Whoa...I think you can safely say that some of these names are probably "you're the only one with it"-type names. Some of these are awesome, though, and will definitely be going on my list.

    I wonder how Fiance is pronounced, though. Is it "FIE-unts", like the last two syllables of defiance, or is it "Fee-AUNS-eh", as in "He's my fiance," she said, pointing to Llewellyn.

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