"The trend of History is often reflected in the very names borne by the men and women who played a part in it", according to Donald Lines Jacobus, often considered the father of American genealogy.
The history of given (first) names in early America offers a glimpse at our forebears and their customs, as well as clues to their origins.
New England's first settlers bore names of three different types: those of English origin, those of Hebrew derivation, and those intended to have a moral significance.
Old English names, connected with the Church of England, were not often favored by the Puritans. Puritans named their children somewhat differently than other English-speaking settlers, preferring Biblical names. Evidently, some parents shut their eyes, opened the Bible, and pointed to a word at random--what else could account for a child being named Notwithstanding or Maybe?
The early Massachusetts Brewster family had two sons, Love and Wrestling, and two daughters named Patience and Fear. The names Humility, Desire, Hate-evil, and Faint-not also appeared in the region.
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