335+ Colonial Names from the 1700s

This feminine form of Theodosius has long been buried deep in the attic, but might be a good discovery for the parent who wants to move beyond Theodora. Vice President Aaron Burr named a daughter Theodosia ("Dear Theodosia" is a song in the smash musical Hamilton), and it was the birth name of silent screen vamp Theda Bara. Theodosia actually appeared on the US popularity lists in the 1880s and 90s.

Theodosia

With Lazarus heating up, this slimmer Eastern European form will likely see an uptick in use.

Lazar

Biblical name from the New Testament. The Book of Philemon mentions Apphia as a Christian woman in Colossae.

Apphia

A name halfway between its old milquetoast image and a more jovial Irish-sounding contemporary one. 

Chauncey

Little-used name borne by several biblical figures including a king. It would make an unexpected way to get the nickname Eli - or Kim.

Eliakim

A saint's name with a noteworthy literary background, including uses by Shakespeare in Two Gentlemen of Verona and Much Ado About Nothing, by Ben Johnson, Walter Scott, Longfellow, D. H. Lawrence and Neil Gaiman. In real life, her two most well known representatives are writer Ursula Le Guin and actress Ursula Andress. In literature, there is also Ursula Iguaran, a key, long-lived character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's major work, One Hundred Years of Solitude.
 Caveat: Today's kids might associate this name with the campy, corpulent octopus in Disney's The Little Mermaid.
 Ursula ranked in the Top 1000 through 1983. Time for a comeback?

Ursula

Homer is a name of two halves, associated with the ancient Greek poet of the epic Odyssey and with the (often) doltish patriarch of The Simpsons. So does that make Homer a classic and scholarly choice — or is it clunky and cartoonish?
 
Derived from ancient Greek homeros, the name can mean "hostage, pledge" or more figuratively, "security". It was popular in the US from at least the 19h-century onwards and featured in the Top 1000 until the early 1980s when it fell into decline. In a recent count, just 21 boys were called Homer in the US, ranking it alongside Icarus, Howie, Essex, and Lyfe in the same year. 
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Interestingly, however, Homer has been a surprising celebrity pick on multiple occasions, selected by Richard Gere, Bill Murray, and Anne Heche. Simpsons creator Matt Groening also has both a father and a son named Homer.
 
Returning to its Greek roots, however, Homer is associated with the term "homeric", which implies work on an enormous scale, and with "homeric laughter" too, in reference ro the unrestrained laughter of the Greek gods. 
 
In fact, 2026 might just have marked a turning point for the name, reacquainting it with its ancient roots, following the movie adaptation of The Odyssey in the same year.

Homer

Keturah, the Old Testament name of Abraham's second wife, is a possibility for anyone seeking a truly unusual and interesting biblical name; certainly a lot more distinctive than that of Abraham's first wife, Sarah.
 
Keturah bore Abraham six sons, who were characterized by one historian as "men of courage and of sagacious minds." Through them, Keturah was the ancestor of sixteen tribes. In the eighteenth century it was believed by some that Keturah was the ancestor of African peoples.
 
This is a name not readily found in popular culture, though there was a character named Keturah on the TV sci-fi show Stargate Atlantis&mdash;but he just happened to be male.

Keturah

Young rocker Tennessee Thomas has brought this former one-person name over to the girls' side -- though the census roles of North Carolina in 1850 included a female named Tennessee and called Tincy. 
 
Reese Witherspoon's using it for her baby son brought it back for the boys, though (male) playwright Tennessee Williams is arguably the most famous bearer. Tennessee is an intriguing place name for a person of any gender.

Tennessee

An Old Testament name with a Puritan feel and post-Zachary possibilities--one of several routes to the cool nickname Zeb.
 Pike's Peak was named for Zebulon Pike, the best known bearer of the name.
 In the Bible, Zebulon--or Zebulun-- was the son of Jacob and Leah, the ancestor of the tribe of Israel which bore his name and settled around Nazareth. The Zebulunites mustered the single largest army to fight for David's installation as king. 
 Zebulon is the name of a song by Rufus Wainwright, and Margaret Atwood used it for a character in her MaddAddam trilogy. It was also the name of the grandpa on The Waltons.

Zebulon

You may never have known a Nettie personally, but there well might be one hidden in your family history, considering that she was a Top 100 name until 1901 and stayed on the Social Security list until 1962.
 Like cousins Hattie and Lottie, Nettie is a charming and nostalgic knitting and crocheting great-grandma name that just might work as a relaxed choice for a contemporary little girl, perhaps to honor an ancestral Annette or Henrietta.

Nettie

A biblical character who was one of David's most valiant warriors and was known for being fast.  But in the modern English-speaking world, this name may be too close to an insulting anatomical word.

Asahel

You can't get much more feminine, sweet, and ladylike than Lady. Would make a cute nickname for up-and-coming Adelaide. Lady will also bring to mind the canine lover of the Tramp.

Lady

Newton

This sassy, spunky name was used for the mostly Irish jump-roping pigtailed girls of the thirties and forties -- and some Irish and Italian boys as well. Its most noted bearer was iconic country music singer Patsy Cline (born Virginia), and was sighted most recently in the Ab Fab movie. After reaching Number 52 in the late thirties, it dropped off the list completely in 1970--and we're not anticipating a return.

Patsy

Rarely used in the last two centuries, but might be worth dusting off and holding up to the light. 

Elihu

As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now. 

Fanny

Adonijah was one of King David's sons in the Old Testament; this name (the accent is on the "ni" syllable) is waiting to be rediscovered.

Adonijah

Could cute nickname Gertie, remembered as cute five-year-old Drew Barrymore in E.T., revive the long shunned Gertrude?
 It's tempting to dismiss Gertrude as a name on its way through the door marked Out Forever, except that its long and honorable pedigree--as a goddess in Norse mythology, as the gentle and mystical Saint Gertrude the Great, and another St. Gertrude who is the patron of cats, and its use by Shakespeare for Hamlet's (not exactly exemplary) mother--earns it a place on the permanent roster. It has also been borne by such varied figures as writer Gertrude Stein, swimming champ Gertrude Ederle, British stage star Gertrude Lawrence, and arts patron Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.
 The pinnacle of fashion a century ago, Gertrude reached as high as Number 23 in 1900, but dropped off the list completely in 1966.

Gertrude

After a long time in limbo, Prudence is now so clunky it'a cool, and it's starting to make a comeback, along with other Puritan virtue names like Mercy, Patience, and Constance.

Its short form, Prue, is much rarer on birth certificates, but it has a lot going for it. Spunky, streamlined, and full of energy, it's refreshing on its own, and would also make a charismatic middle name, or second part of a double name.

In the UK, its best-known wearer is the octogenarian cookery writer and presenter Prue Leith.

Prue

Colonial names from the 1700s are the names that were used in Early America and Georgian England. These 

 range from classic names still used widely today, such as George and Elizabeth, and unique names as antiquated as the Colonial flag.

1700s names in general are in the spotlight again thanks to television's 

. 18th century names popular again due to 

 include Daphne, Eloise, Penelope, Benedict, Henry, and Colin.

 and England are names that would not be out of place in the 21st century world. John and Mary were the Number 1 baby names in the 1700s....and in the 1800s and much of the 1900s too.

include Sarah, Jane, Martha, Alice, and Susan. 

 include Thomas, James, Joseph, and Henry.

 for girls include Hester, Mercy, Lavinia, Sophronia, and Theodosia. 

 include Amias, Hezekiah, Nehemiah, and Philomon.

 had their heyday in the 18th century. Names from the 1700s that were Pilgrim virtue names include Reason, Prosperity, Increase, and Experience, along with the more familiar Faith, Hope, and Charity.

Here is our full collection of Colonial Names from the 1700s.

Colonial names from the 1700 for baby girls and baby boys, with meanings, origins, and current popularity (Page 11)