Unusual First Names

[Ruskie]

I came across this name yesterday  -  Mangeline, affectionately shortened to Mangy.

 

[JohninSussex]

The most unusual for me:

Mehetabella
Brewer (first name!)
Tieleman
Quinrinus
Melchisedech
Good (first name from the Puritan era)
Atlas
Willia
Jone
Gratia
Mathurin (French Huguenot)
Dudley (first name)
Turlogh
Giolla
Deopham
Cardrutt
Anisia
Laurencia
Virtue
Urian
Mabelia
Jerman
Bezallel
Zerubbabel

Dudley (first name) is not unusual at all.  When Peter Cook and Dudley Moore came on the box, I doubt if people thought "what an odd name" as we did when the first Kylie appeared along with Jason Donovan.

Jone is perfectly common in old records as a spelling of Joan.

[jackella]

Sapientia - what a wonderful name!  She first appears at her marriage in 1688 and then goes on to have nine children.  Because of the rarity of this name I have been able to trace forward many of her descendants and connected them back to the original family.

[Jebber]

Free BMD record 9421 births registered with the forename Dudley, so hardly unusual.
 Virtue is also very common.

[KGarrad]

Just out of sheer curiosity, there is a widely repeated story, which may just be an urban myth, that a couple somewhere, somewhen, bestowed on their unfortunate offspring the names 'Depressed Cupboard Cheesecake'.

Does anyone know if this is true? And if so where and when?

Apparently born in 1972, in Kent?
According to a book entitled "Do Ants Have Assholes?: And 106 of the World's Other Most Important Questions", page 21.

[Rena]

All the given names in my trees are normal run of the mill, except maybe for Pemly in Norfolk, which I presume was a local dialect for Pamela.  If my main Scottish line deviates from naming sons John, Robert and, William, I might suffer a cardiac arrest lol.

At the time my research was  mainly in the northern parts of the UK, where I had the task of trying to untangle many William and Mary marriages in Yorkshire.  I got stumped when a strange given name appeared in a document.  One William of Yorkshire had married a Keziah.  Another chatter recognised it as quite normal in the southern part of England.  I then discovered it's a biblical name.

[Rena]

Just out of sheer curiosity, there is a widely repeated story, which may just be an urban myth, that a couple somewhere, somewhen, bestowed on their unfortunate offspring the names 'Depressed Cupboard Cheesecake'.

Does anyone know if this is true? And if so where and when?

Apparently born in 1972, in Kent?
According to a book entitled "Do Ants Have Assholes?: And 106 of the World's Other Most Important Questions", page 21.

At one time in the 20th century if a Registrar didn't agree to the couple's odd choice of names for their baby he would insist they choose a different one.  That news didn't stay hidden in the registrar's office;  it often found its way into the daily newspapers.

[aghadowey]

Back in the 1700s in Massachusetts some of the family became captives of Mohawk Indians and received new names-
Silas = TANNHAHORENS "he splits the door"
Timothy = OSEROKOHTON "he passes through the year" and his wife OSENNENHAWE "she bears a name"
Gonatebenteton "she has been abandoned"
and my personal favourite-
KANIARONKWAS "she gathers snakes"

[Kiltpin]

At one time in the 20th century if a Registrar didn't agree to the couple's odd choice of names for their baby he would insist they choose a different one.  That news didn't stay hidden in the registrar's office;  it often found its way into the daily newspapers.

 

In the mid 60s, in Germany, the registrar had 2 lists - 500 boy's names and 500 girl's names. Not on the list = not registered. At that time, there were many hundreds of thousands of Turkish "guest workers" and their families living there. Practically all the baby boys were called Michael, because Mohammed was not on the list. 

Regards 

Chas