Telethia
I am really curious about this name. I found it when I was studying my family tree. We have copies of her diary which very clearly state that this is her name and not a typo. She was my great grandfathers older sister and it's commonly believed that this side of the family hailed from England and possibly France. However,the only information I have ever found on the name itself leads me to believe it is Scottish in origin (and obscure even there). The closest name I have found to Telethia is Talitha (which I believe is biblical in origin) so I don't think it ties into Telethia. Any ideas?
Replies
Interesting name. It looks vaguely Greek, but nothing like it shows up on any Greek databases, and I think you can rule out a French or Scots Gaelic origin. No births have been registered in England and Wales under this name since the beginning of registry in 1837. However, checking the records, there's a Talithea, a Talithia, two Telethas and several Telithas, some of which may be mistranscriptions of Talitha; one definitely is as it has the middle name Cumi (see database entry on Talitha).
So, based on this, I'd say that Telethia probably started out as either an elaboration of Talitha, a confusion between Talitha and Alethea, or a deliberate fusion of the two.
So, based on this, I'd say that Telethia probably started out as either an elaboration of Talitha, a confusion between Talitha and Alethea, or a deliberate fusion of the two.