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in reply to a message by John
My second great grandmother, SPICEY Ellis Dew was born in about 1841 in NC. I thought it was just an oddity until I purchased a genealogy book with records from the 1860 census of Wilson County, NC. There are 16 women named "Spicy/Spicey" listed with birth dates ranging from 1811 to 1873. About half are white and half are African American. While it wasn't a popular name by any means, I was still surprised to find others who shared this name from different families. I have no idea how Spicey came to be used as a name. Thanks for any insights.
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It's more widespread than that, there are records in Texas (1854), and as far back as 1799 at least. One source asserts that it's a slave name, taking "Spicey" from a nickname given by the owner, but your genealogy book would seem to refute that. It's now rare, but there are a few women named Spicey still, although it's perhaps more popular with authors than parents.
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