Names » General Resources

A Listing of Some Nicknames Used in the 18th & 19th Centuries

About Names: Meaning and Origin of Given Names

Meanings and origins of the 2000 most popular US given names and their European variants, grouped according to common origin.

All About Names - WikiName

An open encyclopedia of names.

AskOxford: Concise Dictionary of First Names

A searchable dictionary of over 6,000 given names from Oxford Dictionaries, with detailed description of origins, and short and pet forms.

Behind the Name

The etymology and history of first names.

Deciphering Old Handwriting

Equivalent Given Names

A useful list of first, a.k.a. given names, and their version as spelled in many different languages. This is a very comprehensive 114 page fully searchable pdf containing thousands of first names. Languages included are English, Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Yiddish, and more.

Family Naming Traditions

First Name Basis

To aid you in researching when all you know is the first name of a person. Focuses on unusual first names and women's first names when maiden names are unknown.

Genealogy Magazine - Beware of 18th-Century Middle Names

“Middle names are a modern innovation,” observed The Vermont Record and Farmer in 1873. “Not one person in a hundred in New England a century ago had more than two names. Now eighty-four percent of the persons under twenty have three or more names.”

Genealogy Standards: Names, Dates, and Places | Ancestry (YouTube)

Genealogy World - Nicknames: Some Common. Others Not!

Genealogy.com - Twigs & Trees with Rhonda: Naming Patterns May Hold a Clue

Article by Rhonda R. McClure.

Given Name Index

[The original link is broken. This link points to an archived copy on the Wayback Machine]

Given Names

Listing of the ten most popular male and female given names from 1900 to 1977 in order of popularity. Derived from Michigan state driver's licenses.

Jerry Hill Presents Names

Comprehensive list of links to all sorts of references to names.

Names, Names and More Names Links

What they mean, where they came from, nicknames, naming patterns.

Namespedia - Names Meaning and Origins

A free names encyclopedia where visitors can search or contribute.

Nicknames and Naming Traditions

Nom de Guerre - The Real People's Real Name Resource of Pseudonyms & Aliases