Message: "Linai T. Helms" - Behind the Name

Linai T. Helms

by Gintautas (guest)

5/29/2007, 10:46 PM

Found a book on Fort Dearborn Massacre (Chicago) written by Lieutenant
Linai T. Helms .

Never saw the name Linai before. Is it short for something else or what is the source or meaning?

Closest would be Lithuanian Linas but Linai would be wrong conjugation or number form for this name. Plus Helms is not even close to Lithuanian .

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- Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans) +2

5/30/2007, 9:44 AM

After Googling through geneological records dealing with the Helm and Taliaferro families, it seems that Linai is probably a respelling (adopted only by this particular individual) of Lynaugh or Lynagh, a surname which became a given name in the Helm and Taliaferro families after a Margaret Lynaugh married Thomas Helm in Virginia in the early 18th century. According to MacLysaght's The Surnames of Ireland, Lynagh is a surname which comes from Gaelic Laighneach, "the Leinsterman".

- Anneza +1

5/31/2007, 3:11 AM

Interesting indeed. Any idea how these families might have pronounced Lynaugh? I'd assume that Linai would be stressed on the second syllable, which the spelling seems to foreground ... but the only Lynaugh I've ever heard of was an Australian rugby player in the 90s whose name, as used by equally Australian sports broadcasters, came out as LINE-ah.

- Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans)

5/31/2007, 11:38 AM

Nope, we'd have to know descendants of Linai T. Helms and his relatives to know how they was pronouncing Linai and Lynaugh, I guess. :)

- Anneza

5/30/2007, 4:01 AM

Never seen it for a man. I was at school with a girl whose name was Lynné, presumably pronounced the same way, but she was always known as Lynn to us ... teachers sometimes gve her the full treatment.

Of course, there's always Linnaeus! Parents do odd things sometimes.

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