England Latin Versions of Given Names - International Institute

Latin Versions of Given Names[edit | edit source]

Many early registers were kept in Latin, or what the cleric thought was Latin, particularly up to 1733. It is not uncommon to find Latin forms of given names for the labouring class in the registers even though the child was always known by the English version. Parents in a loftier sphere may have actually preferred to use the Latin version as the proper name. The common ones are given in Chart 5, however I have not included names that are virtually identical to the English except for the suffixes:

-us, -ius, or -dus for men

-a or -ia for women

Chart: Latin Versions of Some Common Given Names
Note: Some are found with alternate spellings e.g. ae for e, au for al

Aegidius	Giles
Agneta	Agnes
Alienora	Eleanor
Aloysius	Lewis
Aluredus	Alfred
Amabilia	Mabel
Amia	Amy
Amicius	Amyas
Andreas	Andrew
Araldus	Harold
Artorius	Arthur
Caius	Kay
Canstantia	Constance
Carolus	Charles
Coleta	Nicholas (f)
Debelia	Bridget
Demetrius	Jeremiah
Dionisia	Denise
Dionisius	Denis
Duvenaldus	Donald
Egidius	Giles
Emelina	Emily
Etheldrida	Audrey
Eugenius	Owen
Fides	Faith
Francisca	Frances
Galfridus	Geoffrey
Godefridus	Godfrey
Gratia	Grace
Gualterus	Walter
Guido	Guy
Gulielmus	William
Hadrianus	Adrian
Hamo	Hamon
Helena	Ellen, Helen, Eleanor
Helyas	Ellis
Henricus	Henry, Harry
Henrietta	Harriet
Hester	Esther
Hieremias	Jeremiah
Hieronymus	Jerome
Homfridus	Humphrey
Horatius, Horatio	Horace
Hugo	Hugh
Imania	Emma
Isabella	Isabel, Elizabeth
Jacobus	James, Jacob
Jocosa	Joyce
Johanna	Joan, Jane
Johannes	John
Joscia	Joyce
Juetta	Jowet, Ivote
Leonhardus	Leonard
Lucas	Luke
Ludovicus	Lewis
Marcus	Mark
Marta	Martha
Mauritius	Mark, Maurice
Milo	Miles
Misericordie	Mercy
Natalis	Noel
Paganus	Payn
Patricius	Patrick
Pero	Piers
Petronilla	Parnell
Petrus	Piers, Peter
Prudentia	Prudence
Radulphus	Ralph
Ro(h)esia	Rose
Rohelendus	Roland
Seisillus	Cecil
Sibella	Sybil
Silvanus	Silas
Tedbaldus	Theobald
Umfridus	Humphrey
Villefridus	Wilfred
Wido	Guy
Willelmus	William
Yvonus	Ives

The use of Latin ceased in most parish registers before the 1640s, but sometimes continued much longer than even the mid-18th century, especially in Catholic records. Latin parish register examples follow:

Christenings
Joanna filia Joh[ann]is Badcock bapt. fuit XVI die Octobris
Rogerus filius Gualteri Elford bapt. fuit XVIII die februarii
Johannes filius Richardi Knight bapt VII die junii

Marriages
Robertus Adams et Margaretta Fry copulati sunt
Thoma Scott et Elizabetha Freeman conjuncti fuerant in
matrimonio
Edvardus Russell et Anna Smith nuptiae celebratae or
solemnizatae
Jacobus Penn et Maria Wakeham nupti fuerunt
Johannes Martin et Alicia West in matrimonia juncti sunt

Burials
Septembris 4 to Egidius Johnson sepultus erat
Octobris 6 to Marta Hathaway sepulta erat
Eodem.[same day] Francisca Brown sep.

The researcher should also be aware of the Greek letter Chi which looks like a capital X. This was used as a symbol of Christ and thus occurs in such forms as:

Xtian	Christian
Xpofer or Xpopher	Christopher
Xmas	Christmas

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English - Understanding Names in Genealogy offered by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at wiki@genealogicalstudies.com

We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.



The original content for this article was contributed by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies in June 2012. It is an excerpt from their course English - Understanding Names in Genealogy by Dr. Penelope Christensen. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses for a fee ($).