Today’s post is the result of a mostly pointless, but possibly interesting exercise. I decided to see how many first names there are with two or more occurrences in my database of people with Casban, Casben, or Casbon surnames. Then I decided to list the earliest and latest instances of each name. Did you make the list? Great—that means you’re in good company! Didn’t make the list? Even better—you’re one of a kind!
| Name | No. | Earliest | Latest | Name | No. | Earliest | Latest | |
| Albert | 2 | 1885 | 1907 | Katherine, Kathryn, Katie | 4 | 1874 | 2003 | |
| Alfred | 2 | 1828 | 1843 | Kenneth | 2 | 1927 | 1947 | |
| Alice | 4 | 1871 | 1994 | Kristen Kristin | 2 | 1969 | 2000 | |
| Amy | 2 | 1971 | 1975 | Kyle | 2 | 1985 | 2003 | |
| Angela | 2 | 1960 | 1975 | Laura | 2 | 1888 | 1977 | |
| Ann, Anne, Anna | 3 | 1838 | 1876 | Lawrence | 2 | 1865 | 1875 | |
| Arthur | 5 | 1868 | 1918 | Leonard | 3 | 1874 | 1920 | |
| Barbara | 2 | 1922 | 1969 | Leslie | 2 | 1894 | 1923 | |
| Benjamin | 2 | 1985 | 1995 | Lewis | 2 | 1911 | 1927 | |
| Brian | 2 | 1937 | 1937 | Lillian, Lillie | 3 | 1870 | 1888 | |
| Brittany | 2 | 1986 | 1993 | Lindsey | 2 | 1964 | 1993 | |
| Carol, Carole | 4 | 1935 | 1954 | Louise. Louisa | 2 | 1887 | abt 1971 | |
| Catherine | 2 | 1920 | 1982 | Luke | 3 | 1985 | 2003 | |
| Charles | 10 | 1840 | 1968 | Lydia | 2 | 1761 | 1840 | |
| Christine, Christina | 3 | 1951 | 1982 | Lynn, Lynne | 2 | 1953 | 1958 | |
| Christopher | 4 | 1950 | 1995 | Marcia | 2 | 1939 | 1968 | |
| Dana | 2 | 1972 | 1987 | Margaret | 7 | 1864 | 1920 | |
| Daniel, Danny | 2 | 1961 | 1972 | Marjorie | 4 | 1918 | 1934 | |
| David | 8 | 1931 | 1974 | Mark | 3 | 1955 | 1968 | |
| Dawn | 2 | 1978 | 1978 | Martha | 2 | 1840 | 1855 | |
| Donald | 4 | 1913 | 1947 | Mary, Mary Ann(e) |
10 | 1798 | 1937 | |
| Doris | 4 | 1913 | 1937 | Matthew | 2 | 1970 | 1990 | |
| Edith | 4 | 1808 | 1885 | Michael | 7 | 1948 | 1985 | |
| Elizabeth | 8 | 1832 | 1924 | Mildred | 2 | 1886 | 1920 | |
| Emily | 2 | 1878 | 1883 | Nancy | 2 | 1800 | 1961 | |
| Emma | 6 | 1844 | 1984 | Nellie, Nelly | 2 | 1893 | 1914 | |
| Eric | 2 | 1915 | 1927 | Patricia | 2 | 1940 | 1956 | |
| Ernest | 2 | 1890 | 1932 | Paul | 2 | 1976 | 1984 | |
| Florence | 5 | 1864 | 1913 | Percy | 2 | 1899 | 1919 | |
| George | 9 | 1836 | 1942 | Peter | 3 | 1872 | 1938 | |
| Graham | 3 | 1912 | 1940 | Philip, Phillip | 3 | 1943 | 1965 | |
| Hannah | 2 | 1842 | 2001 | Richard | 2 | 1952 | 1980 | |
| Harriet | 3 | 1838 | 1904 | Robert | 4 | 1908 | 1960 | |
| Harry | 5 | 1867 | 1929 | Ronald | 5 | 1929 | 1947 | |
| Helen, Helena | 4 | 1887 | 1958 | Ruth | 3 | 1794 | 1959 | |
| Henry | 4 | 1882 | 1910 | Samuel | 5 | 1851 | 1997 | |
| Herbert | 2 | 1896 | 1910 | Sarah | 9 | 1834 | abt 1972 | |
| Ian | 2 | 1961 | 1974 | Scott | 2 | 1970 | 1975 | |
| James | 10 | 1772 | 1978 | Sharon | 3 | 1947 | 1962 | |
| Jane | 3 | 1803 | 1858 | Shirley | 2 | 1939 | 1952 | |
| Jason | 2 | 1970 | 1985 | Stanley | 2 | 1914 | 1924 | |
| Jerry, Gerald | 3 | 1945 | 1972 | Stephen, Steven | 3 | 1900 | 1978 | |
| Jesse (male) | 4 | 1843 | 1953 | Susan, Susanne, Suzanne | 5 | 1961 | 1993 | |
| John, Jon | 19 | 1778 | 1980 | Sylvester | 2 | 1837 | 1906 | |
| Joseph, Joe | 4 | 1811 | 1994 | Thomas | 11 | 1743 | 1954 | |
| Joyce | 3 | 1927 | 1949 | Walter | 4 | 1856 | 1919 | |
| Julia, Julie, Juliette | 4 | 1866 | Abt 1952 | William | 15 | 1805 | 2004 |
The most frequent names are:
| Men | Women | ||||
| John or Jon: | 19 | Mary or Mary Ann(e): | 10 | ||
| William: | 15 | Sarah: | 9 | ||
| Thomas: | 11 | Elizabeth: | 8 | ||
| Charles: | 10 | Margaret: | 7 | ||
| James: | 10 | Emma: | 6 | ||
| George: | 9 | Florence: | 5 | ||
| David: | 8 | Susan, Susanne, or Suzanne: | 5 | ||
| Michael: | 7 | Alice: | 4 | ||
| Arthur: | 5 | Carol or Carole: | 4 | ||
| Harry: | 5 | Doris: | 4 | ||
| Ronald: | 5 | Edith: | 4 | ||
| Samuel: | 5 | Helen or Helena: | 4 | ||
| Julia, Julie, or Juliette: | 4 | ||||
| Katherine, Kathryn, or Kate: | 4 | ||||
| Marjorie | 4 |
I suppose it says a little bit about how names come and go in fashion. Some have withstood the test of time, others were only popular for a short period. Some have declined and others have made revivals in recent years.
Our names are a unique element of our identities. They outlast our bodies and remain in the memories of others. They provide something for family historians to grab onto in their quest to revive the past. Each one is a potential story waiting to be told.
Do you have any favorite names or stories to go with them?
Fun post! John and Sarah are by far the most common names in my family tree. My favorite naming story is how my father named me. My first name is my mother’s middle name, and my middle name is her twin sister’s middle name. He figured that way no extended family members would get their noses out of joint.
I enjoy naming stories. My first name came from my mother’s brother (who was also my godfather) and middle name from her father.
That is interesting and encouraging Jon. I’ve been thinking of playing around like this but slightly differently; either doing something with occupations …. cordwainer, yeoman farmer, navvie, or maybe with the fact that so many families from Cornwall, unrelated, had the surname of Waters ….. somewhere there has to be an original.
I enjoy reading information that people have found about the occupations of their ancestors.
I’ve written about several occupations that were unusual (to me)–cordwainer, straw plaiter, wheelwright. BTW, I was unfamiliar with the term navvy until you wrote about it. Most of the ancestors were garden variety Ag Labourers though. Are you familiar with the guild of one-name-studies, https://one-name.org/ ? I’m a member. No one has registered the Waters surname. Thanks for your comment!
Just looked, none of my ancestors surnames are in there.