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ArchivesRe: Would like origin of the name Amea (circa 1789)
in reply to a message by Sandi
I believe your GGGG could be the first recorded case of a girl getting a surname as her given name! Modern lady ...
What often used to happen, in her period and earlier, is that babies would be christened and their names recorded in the "more respectable", "better educated" Latin or biblical form and known by the English form. So a Lucia would be known as Lucy, a Susannah as Susan and so on. Amy with an A stuck on looks like a neat tribute to her surname, and some people would find it a more authentic-looking spelling of Amy, though of course it isn't!
By the way, this blew my mind when I found it out - girls would also be registered as, say, Philippa but known as Philip! And as Roberta, Andrea, etc and be known as Robert and Andrew! And we think we're so modern ... all those little-girl Madisons and Jordans running around would have fitted into the Middle Ages perfectly. (I think it'd stopped happening by your GGGG's time, though.)
What often used to happen, in her period and earlier, is that babies would be christened and their names recorded in the "more respectable", "better educated" Latin or biblical form and known by the English form. So a Lucia would be known as Lucy, a Susannah as Susan and so on. Amy with an A stuck on looks like a neat tribute to her surname, and some people would find it a more authentic-looking spelling of Amy, though of course it isn't!
By the way, this blew my mind when I found it out - girls would also be registered as, say, Philippa but known as Philip! And as Roberta, Andrea, etc and be known as Robert and Andrew! And we think we're so modern ... all those little-girl Madisons and Jordans running around would have fitted into the Middle Ages perfectly. (I think it'd stopped happening by your GGGG's time, though.)
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