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ArchivesRe: Origins of two names in my family tree
in reply to a message by Barbara Reaugh
I have to start by stating that, for a variety of reasons, I think it unlikely that either of these two ladies was Jewish. Margaret Lenthall, born England, c.1640, when the number of Jews in England was, officially, zero. Her surname comes from Leinthall in Herefordshire. The surname is on record in England, as Lentale, in 1369.
Elizabeth Frum, born Virginia 1796, has a Jewish sounding name, but it might as easily be an American spelling of a German name. A lot of "Pennsylvania Dutch" names are Americanised in this way, I believe. Pre-revolutionary German settlers tend to have their names changed, e.g., Eisenhower for Eisenhauer. So why not Frum for a German (and Christian) Fromm? Anyway few European Jews had hereditary surnames in the 18th century. If they needed a second name it would usually be the father's name, e.g., Moses Jacob. Frum/Fromm is descriptive, and means "pious".
The people of the Channel Isles are traditionally Protestant rather than Catholic, by the way. And I suspect that Samuel Hall might have been expelled merely for marrying a non-Quaker, but that's just a guess.
Elizabeth Frum, born Virginia 1796, has a Jewish sounding name, but it might as easily be an American spelling of a German name. A lot of "Pennsylvania Dutch" names are Americanised in this way, I believe. Pre-revolutionary German settlers tend to have their names changed, e.g., Eisenhower for Eisenhauer. So why not Frum for a German (and Christian) Fromm? Anyway few European Jews had hereditary surnames in the 18th century. If they needed a second name it would usually be the father's name, e.g., Moses Jacob. Frum/Fromm is descriptive, and means "pious".
The people of the Channel Isles are traditionally Protestant rather than Catholic, by the way. And I suspect that Samuel Hall might have been expelled merely for marrying a non-Quaker, but that's just a guess.
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