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ArchivesRe: Attn Cleveland Kent Evans re: Alifair/Alafair
in reply to a message by "Ella-Fair"
I haven't found any sure explanation yet.
The earliest Alafair in the online Ancestry Library records is Alafair Wright, who was born in Maryland 1768, married Adam Trollinger in North Carolina in 1790 and died in Bedford County, Tennessee in 1860. Unfortunately, no one seems to have been able to figure out who her parents were yet. It is true that most of the later Alafairs live in one of the states she did or in an adjacent state like Kentucky. I don't know if it could be figured out how many of them were actually related to her.
I would think there is at least a 50/50 chance that Alafair Wright's parents were the original creators of the name. There are only two pre-20th-century examples in the Ancestry Library index records in British records, and it seems to me from looking at the photocopy of the original records that one of them was clearly really an Abigail and the census indexer misread the name. The other is from the 1861 Census of Wales, and is a record for a girl named Alafair Lee who was the daughter of Sampson and Alderaife Lee in Breconshire. She was part of a large family and has an older brother whose name looks like Shandras, an older sister Seubee or Senbee, and a younger sister Gravalina, so her parents obviously liked unusual names. She's a couple of generations younger than Alafair Wright of Maryland, but there's an outside chance that her existence means there might be a Welsh origin for the name.
It seems really unlikely to me that this is a surname transfer, because there are is only a total of 17 entries for persons with the surnames Alafair, Allafair, or Alifair in the Ancestry Library census records. Several of these when one checks the original records are obvious examples of the indexer misreading a first name as a last name, and none of them are of people born before Alafair Wright.
P.S. The forms starting with E- seem to be more recent. The earliest example I've found so far is Elifair Costin, wife of James Costin, 36 years old, born in Georgia, and living in Washington County Georgia in 1850.
The earliest Alafair in the online Ancestry Library records is Alafair Wright, who was born in Maryland 1768, married Adam Trollinger in North Carolina in 1790 and died in Bedford County, Tennessee in 1860. Unfortunately, no one seems to have been able to figure out who her parents were yet. It is true that most of the later Alafairs live in one of the states she did or in an adjacent state like Kentucky. I don't know if it could be figured out how many of them were actually related to her.
I would think there is at least a 50/50 chance that Alafair Wright's parents were the original creators of the name. There are only two pre-20th-century examples in the Ancestry Library index records in British records, and it seems to me from looking at the photocopy of the original records that one of them was clearly really an Abigail and the census indexer misread the name. The other is from the 1861 Census of Wales, and is a record for a girl named Alafair Lee who was the daughter of Sampson and Alderaife Lee in Breconshire. She was part of a large family and has an older brother whose name looks like Shandras, an older sister Seubee or Senbee, and a younger sister Gravalina, so her parents obviously liked unusual names. She's a couple of generations younger than Alafair Wright of Maryland, but there's an outside chance that her existence means there might be a Welsh origin for the name.
It seems really unlikely to me that this is a surname transfer, because there are is only a total of 17 entries for persons with the surnames Alafair, Allafair, or Alifair in the Ancestry Library census records. Several of these when one checks the original records are obvious examples of the indexer misreading a first name as a last name, and none of them are of people born before Alafair Wright.
P.S. The forms starting with E- seem to be more recent. The earliest example I've found so far is Elifair Costin, wife of James Costin, 36 years old, born in Georgia, and living in Washington County Georgia in 1850.
This message was edited 9/16/2009, 2:16 PM
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Replies
I think you can rule out a Welsh origin. That particular Lee family were travelling Romnichal - British Romanies, who have a tradition of highly unusual names. I also found an Alefare Smith married in Hackney in 1849, and Smith is another common Romany surname in the UK. So there's another possible origin.
edit: and an Alifear Byford who's also from a Romany family - and an Alafear Wright b. 1839: can't confirm her being Romany, but there are definitely Romany Wrights (there was a fairly well-known Romany maker of wagons/vardos called Wright). Of course this may have nothing to do with the US names, but it's looking like a good possibility.
Wild guess, from what I know of British Romany names - could have originally been a corruption of Alethea.
edit #2: Another possible origin for the US names might be a former Native American tribe from the Florida region, the Alafaes (also Alafay, Alafaia, Elafay, Costa, Alafaia/Alafaya/Alafeyes Costas) - those variations look closer to the OP's set.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_tribes_in_Florida)
edit: and an Alifear Byford who's also from a Romany family - and an Alafear Wright b. 1839: can't confirm her being Romany, but there are definitely Romany Wrights (there was a fairly well-known Romany maker of wagons/vardos called Wright). Of course this may have nothing to do with the US names, but it's looking like a good possibility.
Wild guess, from what I know of British Romany names - could have originally been a corruption of Alethea.
edit #2: Another possible origin for the US names might be a former Native American tribe from the Florida region, the Alafaes (also Alafay, Alafaia, Elafay, Costa, Alafaia/Alafaya/Alafeyes Costas) - those variations look closer to the OP's set.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_tribes_in_Florida)
This message was edited 9/16/2009, 4:29 PM
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The Romany idea is certainly an amazing and interesting possibility. That might help explain why no one has been able to find any indication yet of who Alafair Wright's parents were.
I doubt, though, that the name has anything to do with the Native American tribe in Florida. I just can't see parents in Maryland giving the name of a Florida tribe to a girl born in 1768. Remember that Florida wasn't even purchased by the USA from Spain until 1819. In 1768 Florida would have seemed a world away to people in Maryland, and I think it's highly doubtful the average Maryland family would ever have even heard of the Florida tribe. Finally, using tribal names as given names would have been highly unusual back then. The use of names like Cheyenne and Cherokee for babies is really a modern innovation.
I doubt, though, that the name has anything to do with the Native American tribe in Florida. I just can't see parents in Maryland giving the name of a Florida tribe to a girl born in 1768. Remember that Florida wasn't even purchased by the USA from Spain until 1819. In 1768 Florida would have seemed a world away to people in Maryland, and I think it's highly doubtful the average Maryland family would ever have even heard of the Florida tribe. Finally, using tribal names as given names would have been highly unusual back then. The use of names like Cheyenne and Cherokee for babies is really a modern innovation.
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