The Great Migration - Puritan Ships

Halsall, William F. Arrival of the Winthrop’s Ships in Boston Harbor. 1880. N.p.

Besides the famous (or should I say infamous?) Mayflower carrying Separatist passengers, there was a series of ships that brought Puritans to America in the seventeenth century.

The Recovery

In the Spring of 1633 (31 March to be exact), the Recovery set sail from Weymouth, Dorsetshire for New England, captained by Master Gabriel Cornish. Among its passengers were six Thomases, six Johns, two Roberts, a David, a Jonathan, a Daniel, a Joseph, a William, an Anthony, an Elizabeth, a Mary, and a Sarah. The oddeset name on board this ship was Ezechia, which was a variant of the name Hezekiah. 

The Elizabeth

The ship left port in mid-April 1634 from Ipswich, Suffolk, bound for New England. It took the ship six months to reach its destination, and the ship was captained by Master William Andrewes. It's not surprising that the most popular names on board were John (x15) and Elizabeth (x11), followed by eight occurrences of Thomas and eight occurences of Mary. Other classics included Henry (x5), Richard (x4), Isaac (x3) [includes variation Isaacke], Robert (x3), William (x3), Samuel (x3), Joseph (x2), George (x2), Sarah (x5), Susan (x4), Martha (x4), Anne (x5) [includes variantion Anna], and Abigail (x2). Less common occurrences of one passenger were Edmond, Martin, Daniel, Edward, Philip, Rose, Elinor, Bridget, Katherine, Rebecca, and Lydia. The most eccentric names on board were Thurston, which occured twice in father and son, Humphry, Abraham, Ursula, and Phebe. 

Other passengers on Puritan ships:

Just (Houlding, 23), Darcas (Rose, 2), Ffayth (Newell, 14), Wilbroe (Cooper, 42), Barbarie (Ruggels, 30), Augustine (Clement, --), Hercules (Woodman, --), Zacheus (Courtis, --), Etenetus (Olney, --), Isbell (Tuttell, 70), Sycillie (Clark, 16), Palmer (Tingley, 21), Eglin (Hanford, 46), Randolphus (Elmes, 15), Clement (Bates, 40), Jervice (Gold, 30), Jersula (Greenoway, 32), Hopestill (Ffoster, 14), Philemon (Dalton, 45), Abram (Ffleming, 40), Aymes (Gladwell, 16), Josias (Cobbett, 21), Hilary (Carter, 27), Gamaliel (Bewmont, 21), Caleb (Carr, 11), Bennett (Morecock, 16), Merriall (Saltonstall, 22), Tomazin (Carpenter, 35), Dyonis (Taylor, 48), Constant (Wood, 12), Michelaliel (Monnings, 3), Cesara (Covell, 15), Annis (Almy, 8), Geo (Cocke, 25), Theophilus (Jones, 3), Thomaxin (Manson, 14), Remembrance (Tybott, 28), Salomon (Martin, 16), Ephraim (Howe, 9), Obediah (Hawes, 6mo)

Any of these names peak your interest? I'll do a follow up post for other passengers on other Puritan/Pilgrim ships and the origins of some of these names. 

Pious Puritan Pilgrims of the Mayflower

Good afternoon, name hunters! This is Mandy Dee in her first blog post about names. Today's post is about Pilgrim and Purtian names along with some history behind the whole ordeal. Hope you enjoy and find names just as fascinating as I do!

To start out, in the early seventeenth century, many English citizens (as well as a few Dutch) left their Anglican world to escape persecution. They were puritans and separatists, or those who wanted to "purify" or "separate" from the Church of England for it's Catholic similitude. Over a hundred passengers boarded the Mayflower, sailing off to the New World and landing on the noteworthy Plymouth Colony in Cape Cod, off the coast of modern-day Massachusettes. Over the next hundred years (and many more years to come), English settlers came to Colonies in hope of a better life– which is basically what our country is founded on. These people were very conservative and believed in the Puritan or Protestant work ethic, which is to work hard, save your money, and invest in a quality education. Also, these people were highly religious and belived in virtues, hence the virtuous names. A list below are names from those passangers as well as many settlers in the New World.
Side Note: Some of the names below come from a genealogy book my grandfather received, detailing the lives of my ancestors in the 13 Colonies, so some of the names cannot be found on the passenger list for the Mayflower. 

Boys:
Aaron
Ambrose
Amos
Bartholomew
Christopher
Degory
Edmund
Edward
Elias
Francis
George
Gilbert
Giles
Henry
Isaac
James
Jasper
John
Jonas
Jonathan
Joseph
Matthew
Myles
Nathaniel
Oceanus
Peregrine
Peter
Resolved
Richard
Robert
Rodger
Samuel
Solomon
Stephen
Thomas
William
Wrestling
Zedekiah

Girls:
Abigail
Alice
Ann
Catherine
Constance
Damaris
Desire
Dorothy
Elinor
Elizabeth
Ellen
Hannah
Hepzibah
Humility
Jemima
Joan
Love
Lydia
Maria
Mary
Priscilla
Remember
Ruth
Rose
Sarah
Susanna
Truelove

Along with these names, last names are quite possible for naming your child, including Bradford, Brester, Carver (as opposed to the ever-popular Carter), Fletcher, Gardiner, and Ely. I recommend last names as boy names if you are planning to go this route, although one last name, Story, could be possible for a little girl. In all, many of these names can still be heard today and some are even new gems just waiting to be discovered!