Working with Forenames

As you research, you're likely to find many ancestors who seem to have no consistency in their first name. It may vary from given name. middle name, a common shortening of the name, to a nickname or pet name. They may all used at different times in a person's life as as a first name. Sometimes, people just didn't like their name and started using something else (a lot easier to do a hundred or more years ago than it is today). It can be challenging to piece it all together. For example, consider the name Ella. Is it legitimately the given name? Or does it stand for Isabella, Eleanor, Ellen, Elvira, Helen, Louella? You get the idea. 

Enter What's In A Name forenames website. This free website was privately maintained for a number of years (2004-2013). While it originated to assist in names used in Scotland, often not well known by non-Scots, it's still a very useful tool and has been expanded to include names from other English speaking countries. Simply enter the name in the search box and you'll see potential results such as: Diminutive for, Pet name for, Derivative(s), Source and Notes (including the history of the name). There's also an option to include wildcards or use a Soundex in your search.

Although it does not appear to have had any updates since 2013, What's In A Name is still a very good reference tool for the amateur genealogist (like me). I've used it often, and found it very helpful in my personal research. While not an all-encompassing database, especially for more modern names, it is very useful for researching historical English forenames (many of which are still relevant today).

Image by Maicon Fonseca Zanco from Pixabay