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ArchivesMy column on Chelsea
December is always an extremely busy month and I forgot to post the link to this column until nine days after it was published. Sorry!
https://omaha.com/life-entertainment/local/cleveland-evans-comedian-gives-the-name-chelsea-21st-century-cachet/article_33b5e7d4-ac21-11ef-bbff-ef8f1daf6bcf.html
This was a name where I found a lot more interesting information than would fit into the column. Something the column points out is that Chelsea is an early example of a name which went straight from place name to given name without ever being a surname first. Now, in checking census records there were 26 people in the 1950 United States census (the latest available) with the surname Chelsea. However, using links readily available in Ancestry.com I quickly found that 24 of these people were members of families who had changed their surnames from something Polish or Romanian such as Cieliczka or Ciesielski. The one married couple I couldn't verify a name change for probably had also done so, because though the husband was born in the USA the wife was born in Hungary and I could not find them at all in the 1940 census.
The idea of turning Chelsea into a given name started in the USA. The first Chelsea born in England was only born in 1889 -- Chelsea Dutton of Warwickshire, who like the first Chelseas in the USA was male, not female. He was killed in March 1918 in World War I and tragically his younger brother Percy was killed in the war only six weeks later. Though his parents also had a younger son and two daughters, I found myself being really sad for this family that lost two sons in battle in such a short time.
The first female Chelsea born in England, Chelsea Annie Dunham, was born in Lympstone, Devon in 1896.
https://omaha.com/life-entertainment/local/cleveland-evans-comedian-gives-the-name-chelsea-21st-century-cachet/article_33b5e7d4-ac21-11ef-bbff-ef8f1daf6bcf.html
This was a name where I found a lot more interesting information than would fit into the column. Something the column points out is that Chelsea is an early example of a name which went straight from place name to given name without ever being a surname first. Now, in checking census records there were 26 people in the 1950 United States census (the latest available) with the surname Chelsea. However, using links readily available in Ancestry.com I quickly found that 24 of these people were members of families who had changed their surnames from something Polish or Romanian such as Cieliczka or Ciesielski. The one married couple I couldn't verify a name change for probably had also done so, because though the husband was born in the USA the wife was born in Hungary and I could not find them at all in the 1940 census.
The idea of turning Chelsea into a given name started in the USA. The first Chelsea born in England was only born in 1889 -- Chelsea Dutton of Warwickshire, who like the first Chelseas in the USA was male, not female. He was killed in March 1918 in World War I and tragically his younger brother Percy was killed in the war only six weeks later. Though his parents also had a younger son and two daughters, I found myself being really sad for this family that lost two sons in battle in such a short time.
The first female Chelsea born in England, Chelsea Annie Dunham, was born in Lympstone, Devon in 1896.
This message was edited 12/11/2024, 3:17 PM
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