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ArchivesMy column on Tammy
Below is the link to today's column:
https://omaha.com/life-entertainment/local/cleveland-evans-tammys-popularity-peaked-in-1968-but-the-name-is-now-rare-for-newborns/article_89f1f3c0-0804-11ef-a179-b7d5b07e3d83.html
I was surprised by the number of Tammys I found in both the United States and England during the early 19th century. In England the concentration of Tammys in Devon in the 1841 census was rather remarkable -- a couple of generations later British name experts were commenting on how Tamsin was now largely confined to Cornwall, which was already somewhat the case in 1841 -- and Tamsin seems to have mostly become Tammy in Devon then.
In the USA, as the column states, Tammy seems to have been as often from Tamar as from Tamsin in the early 19th century, but here I was surprised by the number of women I found in Ancestry.com in the early 19th century who seemed to be just "Tammy" in all records. Tammy was never common back then, but did occur often enough not to be completely "eccentric." I didn't expect to see Tammy in use as a full form quite that early.
https://omaha.com/life-entertainment/local/cleveland-evans-tammys-popularity-peaked-in-1968-but-the-name-is-now-rare-for-newborns/article_89f1f3c0-0804-11ef-a179-b7d5b07e3d83.html
I was surprised by the number of Tammys I found in both the United States and England during the early 19th century. In England the concentration of Tammys in Devon in the 1841 census was rather remarkable -- a couple of generations later British name experts were commenting on how Tamsin was now largely confined to Cornwall, which was already somewhat the case in 1841 -- and Tamsin seems to have mostly become Tammy in Devon then.
In the USA, as the column states, Tammy seems to have been as often from Tamar as from Tamsin in the early 19th century, but here I was surprised by the number of women I found in Ancestry.com in the early 19th century who seemed to be just "Tammy" in all records. Tammy was never common back then, but did occur often enough not to be completely "eccentric." I didn't expect to see Tammy in use as a full form quite that early.
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Replies
Oh dear. Another 'Subscribe to keep reading' notice. I'm so sorry.
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CKE, As an Aussie Brit I always identify Tamsin with the English West Country. (Can't read your column since it's behind a paywall - I'm sometimes lucky with your erudite and fascinating columns, though, at least I have been in the past!) I wonder whether you have ever written a column on Melody. I'd love to know how much use it had in the USA before the 20th century. This is what I added to the Comments for Melody a few years ago: "I love the name Melody. To my surprise - a very pleasant one, since I like names with an established history of use behind them - I found (via a well-known genealogy site) that in England it has been used for girls since at least the 1780s. I looked at facsimiles of the baptisms to make sure. I suspect that it may have been used in the Middle Ages too, but its 18th century and onwards usage seems to militate against the charge that it is "tacky". I also found, on that same site, a Melody Ann Padwick baptised in 1788, daughter of a father named Edward and a mother also named Melody (her first name, not her birth surname). But I couldn't confirm that the record had been properly transcribed since no facsimile was available."
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Very interesting, thanks! Tammy just seems like such an out-of-style-name now.
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