52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Week 25: Same Name: Look at all of the Elizabeths!

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

My name is Lisa. I was not named after anyone. From name books, Lisa is derived from Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a Greek name, meaning either “oath of God” or “God is satisfaction.” Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist.

After doing a lot of family research, I have found many ancestors on both my father’s and mother’s sides, as well on my husband's side. I also named my first born, Elizabeth.

So checking in my RootsMagic database, which contains ancestors of my children, I found:

• 10 Elizabeths with no surname
• 86 people with Elizabeth as their first name
• 46 people with Elizabeth as their middle name

There may have been more Elizabeths with the women whose middle names were listed as E. 

The closest people named Elizabeth in my father’s side of the family are:

• My daughter, Elizabeth Ann
• My sister, Sabrina Elizabeth
• My great-aunt, Ethel Elizabeth Sullivan
• My first cousin, once removed, Elizabeth Goe
• My great-grandaunt, Elizabeth M. Gleeson
• My second great-grandaunt, Elizabeth Tierney
• My first cousin, once removed, Elizabeth L Hork
• My first cousin, once removed, Elizabeth C Schwalen

My mother’s side are mostly from the South. I had to go back many generations before I found any Elizabeth names:

• My three times great-grandmother, Elizabeth McCormack
• My four times great-grandmother, Elizabeth S Neel
• My first cousin, 4 times removed, Elizabeth Starks
• My third great-grandaunt, Elizabeth N Coor
• My first cousin, 4 times removed, Ann Elizabeth Welch
• My third great-grandaunt, Elizabeth Welch
• My fourth great-grandmother, Elizabeth Rebecca Young
• My second great-grandmother, Eliza A Rodgers (which I didn’t count in the above nos.)
• My third great-grandmother, Elizabeth Nixon
• My second great-grandaunt, Elizabeth Loveless

Elizabeth names found on my husband’s lines:

• My daughter’s grandaunt, Claire Elizabeth Gorrell
• My daughter’s third great-grandaunt, Elizabeth Gorrell
• My daughter’s first cousin, 4 times removed, Elizabeth Bliss
• My daughter’s first cousin, 4 times removed, Elizabeth B Foughty
• My daughter’s second great-grandmother, Catherine Elizabeth Shotts
• My daughter’s third great-grandaunt, Elizabeth Shotts
• My daughter’s third great-grandaunt, Elizabeth Bishop
• My daughter’s first cousin, 4 times removed, Elizabeth Bishop
• My daughter’s fourth great-grandaunt, Elizabeth Bishop
• My daughter’s fifth great-grandaunt, Ann Elizabeth Bischof
• My daughter’s sixth great-grandmother, Ann Elizabetha Ellrodt

This certainly doesn’t account for all of the women with Elizabeth as part of their name, but it’s a pretty good list.

I’d always wished my name had been Elizabeth; that Lisa had been a nickname from Elizabeth. That was why I named my daughters Elizabeth and Margaret, so they would have choices about nicknames, or not. Both are still called by their full names.

The Visitation
Philippe de Champaigne, 1643–48

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