Behind the Name

Do you have a favorite name you've encountered in your family research? Mine is my 1st cousin 3x removed - Zytilla Gertrude James (1853-1910). I started wondering where in the world the name Zytilla came from? It certainly hasn't popped up anywhere else in my research. 

I was surfing around and came upon Behind the Name. I really like all the information you can find on both given and surnames. When you first land on the site, you're on the given name page. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the homepage, there's an option for surnames as well. You can browse various names, search, find meanings and related/equivalent/diminutive names, see the popularity change over time in various areas of the world, and even find namesakes and various other bits of information. You can browse names not only by first letter, but by region, mythology, religion and other various categories. There are additional interactive features and message boards if you want to sign up. The site is FREE!

I had fun looking up my name. Doris, seemed to be most popular in the US in the late 1920's and early 1930's. By the time I was born, it was not just falling out of favor, it was plummeting! In fact, the only country where it currently shows any real use (albeit not much) is the Netherlands with 0.080%. I happened to be named after 3 different friends of my mother. Clearly, they were all born when the name was far more common. I was surprised to see all the usages: English, German, Swedish, Danish, Croatian, Ancient Greek, Greek Mythology. I won't bore you with the other facts about my name, but suffice it to say, I thoroughly enjoyed poking around the site as I was writing this post.

Back to Zytille Gertrude! Gertrude probably hasn't been a favorite in a long time. Between 1880-1900 it accounted for about 1% of the female names per this site. Since then, it's fallen sharply and stopped registering on their graph in the mid-1960's. But how about Zytilla? Well, there's absolutely nothing on the site. So, like all good sleuths, I Googled. Again, nothing! I opened up ChatGPT and asked AI if it knew anything, and it responded:

The name "Zytilla" is quite unique and doesn't have a widely recognized origin or meaning in common name dictionaries or linguistic sources. It may be a modern creation or a rare name that is specific to a particular family or cultural group.

So there we have it. I can fairly confidently say, Zytilla's mother probably either had 2 other names she morphed together (possibly the Polish Zyta and the German Ottilla), or she made it up and simply liked the way it sounded. It certainly was unique! I wish I knew if Zytilla (also known as Tilla in some records) liked her name? I don't much care for Gertrude, but I do actually really like Zytilla. I wonder about her character. I imagine her as a little blond girl, who looked much like Alice in Wonderland. All I know for certain are these basic facts: she was born in Ohio, died in Illinois, was married, had two children, was a housewife and could read and write. She was a "unicorn", an individual with a unique name and perhaps a unique personality to go with it.

Taking Stock

I've written previously about the mysterious Abijah LeRoy, my 2nd great-grandfather, who started my genealogy journey and remains a very stubborn brick wall. 

I decided it was time to take stock of the facts I do know (spoiler alert, it's not very much!):

• My grandfather was Jesse Ben LeRoy (1907-1971) Born in Georgia
• My great-grandfather was John Robert LeRoy (1847-1927) Born in Georgia
• My great-great grandfather is the mysterious Abijah/Abijob (or whatever his given name turns out to be) probably born around 1819 (possibly earlier) since all of his children were born between 1839-1847 in Georgia. He's not listed in any census from 1850 forward with his known family. Based on 1880 and 1900 census of his son, he may have been born in Georgia or South Carolina. No birth, death or marriage records and no obituary has been located. No burial had been discovered. The only mention of him is on one of  his son's death certificate. I can find no mention of him in any records for his other children.

Many trees show Abijah as John, with his mother potentially being Dorcas Shoeboots/Boots, a Cherokee Indian. I'm 40% on board with Dorcas as the name of his mother, because of an 1860 census hint from her later years, showing her surname as Lukeray, with her occupation as domestic help in the household of two of her believed grandchildren. But I'm not at all convinced she was Cherokee. And I have no clue as to her maiden name. I've found no other records for her as of yet. She may not even be the right mother. I simply don't have enough information yet. 

Thanks to Thru Lines, I think I know 2 of her other children though. The most important clue so far is both of them using the surname LeCroy (not LeRoy). It's not much, but it's something. I had long wondered if the surname morphed along the way. Certainly LeCroy to LeRoy isn't a big stretch. But searching for Abijah with any of the dozen or so spellings I've seen returns absolutely zilch! 

Then there's the matter of the little fact I totally forgot. John Robert LeRoy, on the 1910 census, shows as having served in the Confederate Army. I'd previously mined unproven details from his widow's unsuccessful bid for his pension. He was apparently not shown on the records she indicated he should be. And so, I dropped looking for him as a veteran, figuring she was just trying to get the money. Recently, I happened to get some hints for Civil War veterans for John Robert LeRoy. They were actually for John LeCroy! I'm not entirely sure they're for my John, but it did give me pause to rethink the surname again.

At this point, it seems viable Abijah was a nickname of some sort. The other 2 siblings I think I've identified are Thomas and Amanda. On the surface, John is a more likely given name. And, if some trees are to be believed, it's possible his father's name was also John...or Thomas...or Luke. I have found some full-text search results on FamilySearch, where Chief Shoeboots did actually transfer land to a John LeCroy, and John was an early settler on Indian lands. There's also a newspaper mention of Shoeboots giving him 4 slaves in 1830....but it's nowhere near enough information for me to confidently say he's Abijah's father, or Dorcas's husband. 

Another interesting tidbit is Abijah's wife Nancy Williams is shown in 1850 (as Nancy LeRoy) living next door to an Abijah Williams. He would be the right age to be her brother. Is it possible her brother's name was somehow provided instead of her spouse's on the death certificate? Or perhaps it was a name she also affectionately called her husband? Or maybe Abijah Williams isn't even her brother...

I've contemplated Abijah may have been away from the family. The Mexican-American war did occur in the proper time frame, as did the Cayuse War. But I somehow doubt he was involved in either. The list of killer diseases at the time is long. He could have died from any number of illnesses or farming accidents. He could have left his family, changed his name, and started over somewhere else too! So far, all I have is a lot of maybes...and lots more DNA cousins to fit into my tree. Maybe one of them will eventually turn into a lead.

Surname brick walls aren't terribly uncommon. There were numerous reasons names might have been recorded incorrectly. But have you ever had a given name you thought might be totally incorrect? If so, can you share how you attacked the problem?

Image by Jupi Lu from Pixabay