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ArchivesAwahtok (m) and Equrk (f)
hi
we have just discovered that my great-grandfather, who went by the name of 'arthur' was in fact christened 'awahtok', a name we have never heard of and cannot find even on 'google'. his sister was called 'equrk'. likewise we cannot find the origin of this name. cross referencing official records, these are definitely their names, correct spelling etc.
they were working class people born in the south of england in the late 1800s. their surname was polish, but they were 2nd or 3rd generation so we don't think this is necessarily relevant. they had another brother and sister called 'francisco' and 'dolcebella' respectively, which are obviously italian (no italian connection to our family that we know of so clearly the parents were rather unconventional).
any help with the origin of 'awahtok' or 'equrk' much appreciated.
emma
we have just discovered that my great-grandfather, who went by the name of 'arthur' was in fact christened 'awahtok', a name we have never heard of and cannot find even on 'google'. his sister was called 'equrk'. likewise we cannot find the origin of this name. cross referencing official records, these are definitely their names, correct spelling etc.
they were working class people born in the south of england in the late 1800s. their surname was polish, but they were 2nd or 3rd generation so we don't think this is necessarily relevant. they had another brother and sister called 'francisco' and 'dolcebella' respectively, which are obviously italian (no italian connection to our family that we know of so clearly the parents were rather unconventional).
any help with the origin of 'awahtok' or 'equrk' much appreciated.
emma
1
Replies
Hmm .. I think I'd have gone the Arthur route too, if I had a name like that!
My guess is that great-great-granny had been reading a novel set in the Wild West or the American frontier (not Last of the Mohicans but that kind of thing) and took the names from there.
I'd love to know what Aunty Equrk called herself!
My guess is that great-great-granny had been reading a novel set in the Wild West or the American frontier (not Last of the Mohicans but that kind of thing) and took the names from there.
I'd love to know what Aunty Equrk called herself!
1
hello
apparently Equrk called herself Euey (not sure that's how you spell it, but pronounced You-ee)
current speculation is that the names are eskimo from a now out-of-print book - so you're not far off! well done! but it's very out of the blue as most of my relations at that time couldn't read and were living in a small town in south of the UK. funny...
thanks for your help
emma
apparently Equrk called herself Euey (not sure that's how you spell it, but pronounced You-ee)
current speculation is that the names are eskimo from a now out-of-print book - so you're not far off! well done! but it's very out of the blue as most of my relations at that time couldn't read and were living in a small town in south of the UK. funny...
thanks for your help
emma
1
Dear Mis Claire:
You do have an intriquing conundrum here. I love this kind of challege. So glad you brought these names up.
I agree with another post these names do sound Native American but, I do not think they are, since these relatives were third and forth generational Polish people living in England in the 1800's.
It is possible that these names may have been a "pet name". My family have a history of not using there given names but, there pet names around home and friends.
They may be the name of a small village in or some country near Poland from the previous generations of where your family hailed from,
and perhaps it disappeared when hitler was on the rampage. It may be your families orginating country was Italy or some country near or affliated with it.
My sister-in-law has the surname "Martinelli". Her father and all his family were Austrian during the times hitler's rampage through Europe. They lived in a very small farming village and depending on where a family lived in that village they were required to change/adopt the family names and language to either Austrian or Italian, and it happened that his family were forced to change their names to Italian ones.
I am almost sure I have heard these names spoken somewhere but, I cannot remember where or by whom, but they are not names associated with my family. Probably in some old books I have read or studied at over the years, I have had a ministry of helps connected with names and their prophetic meanings (I am a Messianic Hebrew)since about 1980. Since those names were christen names I am positive they do have a simular meaning as the called names your family members were known by in that South England community. Most contributorily, Awatok and Equrk are what they were called by their family and friends, and their orgins are from Poland via some generational changes out of Italia.
This is the best meaning I have to give you about them, in my considerations and at least a partial (very small) prophesy God is proclaiming and talking about in their use:
You do have an intriquing conundrum here. I love this kind of challege. So glad you brought these names up.
I agree with another post these names do sound Native American but, I do not think they are, since these relatives were third and forth generational Polish people living in England in the 1800's.
It is possible that these names may have been a "pet name". My family have a history of not using there given names but, there pet names around home and friends.
They may be the name of a small village in or some country near Poland from the previous generations of where your family hailed from,
and perhaps it disappeared when hitler was on the rampage. It may be your families orginating country was Italy or some country near or affliated with it.
My sister-in-law has the surname "Martinelli". Her father and all his family were Austrian during the times hitler's rampage through Europe. They lived in a very small farming village and depending on where a family lived in that village they were required to change/adopt the family names and language to either Austrian or Italian, and it happened that his family were forced to change their names to Italian ones.
I am almost sure I have heard these names spoken somewhere but, I cannot remember where or by whom, but they are not names associated with my family. Probably in some old books I have read or studied at over the years, I have had a ministry of helps connected with names and their prophetic meanings (I am a Messianic Hebrew)since about 1980. Since those names were christen names I am positive they do have a simular meaning as the called names your family members were known by in that South England community. Most contributorily, Awatok and Equrk are what they were called by their family and friends, and their orgins are from Poland via some generational changes out of Italia.
This is the best meaning I have to give you about them, in my considerations and at least a partial (very small) prophesy God is proclaiming and talking about in their use:
1
thank you very much for your reply.
i think 'Awahtok' is from a book about the north pole - probably eskimo! quite far fetched for a sussex cabinet-maker, but there you go...
you might have something with 'Equrk' though as she was called 'Euey' for short, which is a lot like 'Euella', a name you mentioned that fits in with it.
the religious background of my family is also quite obscure as our surname (which we still have) we thought was of catholic polish origin, but it turns out that it was almost certainly jewish. either way, all the early records are from parish churches, so they must have converted before coming over, or perhaps they weren't very religious and just did what was easiest to fit in. it is unlikely that they were persecuted or felt uncomfortable about their origins as, unlike a lot of people, they never bothered anglicising their name, which must have stood out a lot!
in any case, if you want your children to 'blend in' i guess you don't call them something like 'awahtok'! good for them, i say - being odd in victorian england they must have been a set of characters!
thanks to you
emma
i think 'Awahtok' is from a book about the north pole - probably eskimo! quite far fetched for a sussex cabinet-maker, but there you go...
you might have something with 'Equrk' though as she was called 'Euey' for short, which is a lot like 'Euella', a name you mentioned that fits in with it.
the religious background of my family is also quite obscure as our surname (which we still have) we thought was of catholic polish origin, but it turns out that it was almost certainly jewish. either way, all the early records are from parish churches, so they must have converted before coming over, or perhaps they weren't very religious and just did what was easiest to fit in. it is unlikely that they were persecuted or felt uncomfortable about their origins as, unlike a lot of people, they never bothered anglicising their name, which must have stood out a lot!
in any case, if you want your children to 'blend in' i guess you don't call them something like 'awahtok'! good for them, i say - being odd in victorian england they must have been a set of characters!
thanks to you
emma
1
These names sound Native American or even Eskimo to me.
This text (http://www.societe-de-lecture.ch/pages/bibvirt_eurotxt3.html), situated in 1860, mentions a young Eskimo called Awahtok.
Did the parents have American friends with Native roots? Or maybe they found the name in a novel or something, if exoticism was fashionable at the time (that could explain the Italian names)...
Tell me, is it possible to christen a child with a non Christian name? If no, that would mean that there's a Saint Awahtok & a Saint Equrk... very strange!
Do tell me if you find anything, I'm curious now!
~~ Claire ~~
This text (http://www.societe-de-lecture.ch/pages/bibvirt_eurotxt3.html), situated in 1860, mentions a young Eskimo called Awahtok.
Did the parents have American friends with Native roots? Or maybe they found the name in a novel or something, if exoticism was fashionable at the time (that could explain the Italian names)...
Tell me, is it possible to christen a child with a non Christian name? If no, that would mean that there's a Saint Awahtok & a Saint Equrk... very strange!
Do tell me if you find anything, I'm curious now!
~~ Claire ~~
1
hello
just after i posted i also found the link you included - awahtok almost definitely from here, you are right! no mention of equrk though.
it's quite unexpected as the family were very poor and mostly illiterate - (marriage certificates signed with crosses rather than signatures &c). but obviously someone could read, and liked reading stories about polar exploration!
i think you can christen a child with a non-christian name, especially since even the most traditional christian names are hebrew and greek and roman and all the rest of it, so i guess they had to start somewhere... i say 'christening' literally rather than 'naming' as we got these names from church records, as i say, the 'given names' they went by were english ones e.g. arthur.
thanks for your help!
emma
just after i posted i also found the link you included - awahtok almost definitely from here, you are right! no mention of equrk though.
it's quite unexpected as the family were very poor and mostly illiterate - (marriage certificates signed with crosses rather than signatures &c). but obviously someone could read, and liked reading stories about polar exploration!
i think you can christen a child with a non-christian name, especially since even the most traditional christian names are hebrew and greek and roman and all the rest of it, so i guess they had to start somewhere... i say 'christening' literally rather than 'naming' as we got these names from church records, as i say, the 'given names' they went by were english ones e.g. arthur.
thanks for your help!
emma
1