Submitted Name Revision History

From the English word meaning "to come back" (itself from Old French re- "back" and torner "to turn"), which was given to a boy born in 1708 in Guilford, Connecticut, supposedly in memory of an incident from his parents' courtship; it is popularly claimed that his mother, Hannah Willard (1674-1749) - after repeatedly rejecting his father, Janna Meigs (1672-1739) - finally relented, crying to him as he rode away "Return, Janna, return!" The name has since been borne by more than a dozen of Return Meigs' descendants, including his son, Return Jonathan Meigs (1740-1823), and grandson, Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (1764-1825; the fourth Governor of Ohio and fifth U.S. Postmaster General).