Names From an Art Dynasty: Raffaelle, Rembrandt and Rubens Peale
By Sephora, Baby Names from Yesteryear
Charles Willson Peale was one of the key players in early American art, painting some of the most famous political figures in American history. He founded a dynasty that would produce a number of important and influential artists. But it’s his creativity in naming his children which brought him to my attention.
Peale was married three times and had seventeen children with his first two wives, Rachel Brewer and Elizabeth de Peyster. Most of his children’s names are testament to his love of art, politics and the natural sciences. This man certainly knew how to stick to a theme (kind of…).
Margaret Jane – likely named for her paternal aunt and grandmother
James Willson – shared his first name with his uncle, and his middle name with his father and a wealthy great-uncle.
Eleanor – name of maternal grandmother, Eleanor Maccubbin
Margaret Van Bordley – I haven’t been able to trace the origin of Bordley. It could have been a family name or surname, as Charles had a niece called Elizabeth Bordley.
Raphaelle – named after Raphael, the famous sixteenth century Italian painter
Angelica Kauffman – reputedly Charles’ favourite female artist, Angelica Kauffman was a highly influential female artist and one of the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts in England
Rembrandt – named after the great seventeenth century Dutch painter
Titian Ramsay – the first of Charles’s son with this name, he gets his first moniker from the well-known artist. His middle one could be a nod to Allan Ramsay, a Scottish portrait painter, or to Charles’ brother-in-law Nathaniel Ramsay, with whom Charles shared an interest in politics
Rubens – after the Flemish painter, Peter Paul Reubens
Sophonisba Augusciola –Sophonisba Augusciola was an Italian Renaissance artist who worked in the court of Phillip II of Spain.
Rosalba Carriera – another famous female artist, Rosalba was born in Venice and found favour with a number of aristocratic families
Vandyke – named for the great Flemish painter Van Dyke.
Charles Linnaeus – The first son to carry his father’s first name, Charles Linnaeus got his middle name from the Carl Linnaeus, the prominent botanist and physician
Benjamin Franklin – Charles painted Benjamin Franklin in 1789 and was an admirer of his
Sybilla Miriam – named for Maria Sibylla Merian, the naturalist and scientific illustrator
Titian Ramsay – given this name after the death of his older brother
Elizabeth de Peyster – named for her mother. But Charles was not the only one in his family to combine family names with ones from the art world. He not only passed down the family business of painting to his children, but he also passed down his love of artistic and wacky monikers.
His son Rembrandt carried on his tradition, albeit more subtly. Rembrandt had nine children in all, of which three were given names with art in mind: Michael Angelo, Rosalba Carriera, and Angelica (who called one of her sons Thomas Jefferson.)
Titian Ramsay, Charles’s youngest son, also had a liking for the unusual. Although he used Sybillia Miriam for a daughter and gave a son Titian as a middle name, he came up with other interesting and less obvious choices for his other children’s middle names: Bonaventure, Florida, Ord, Mcmahon, and Godman.
Charles’s younger brother, James Peale, also became an artist and developed a love for his craft. He had seven children (one of whom was unnamed) with his wife Mary Claypoole. Three of his daughters would go on to become notable still life painters.
Jane Ramsay, Maria, James Junior, Anna Claypoole, Margaretta Angelica, and Sarah Miriam
Other interesting names from the extended Peale family tree (first and middle names):
Archiana
Beckenridge
Carapaba
Furgurson
Lyles
St George
Warfe
Wickham
Sephora, who goes by Zeffy on her blog Baby Names from Yesteryear, is a history obsessive and name enthusiast. She has a degree in history and likes to spend her spare time researching dusty old sources for forgotten gems. Gifted with an unusual name upon birth, she prefers to focus on the weird and wonderful world of unusual names.