Colonial America was not one naming tradition — it was at least six, operating simultaneously and in tension with each other across a continent. A Puritan child in Boston in 1650 might be named Thankful or Increase. A Dutch child in New Amsterdam in the same year would be named Marytje van Rensselaer, with a patronymic surname that would change with every generation. A Virginia planter's son might be named Lysander or Peyton — classical names intended to announce his father's education and aspirations. Understanding colonial naming means understanding which colony, which religion, and which generation you're working in.
The Puritan Tradition: The Most Distinctive Colonial Naming System
Puritan New England produced the most recognizable — and most misunderstood — naming tradition in colonial America. Puritan names are not simply "old-fashioned English names." They have a specific logic that reflects theological belief.
Puritan naming also pulled heavily from the Old Testament in ways that diverged sharply from mainstream English practice. Names like Ebenezer, Eliezer, Abigail, and Hezekiah were rare in England but common in New England because Puritans rejected the New Testament saints (too Catholic) in favor of Hebrew scripture. The linguistic effect is that authentic Puritan names often sound more Jewish than English to modern ears — which is historically accurate.
The Dutch Patronymic System
New Netherland (New Amsterdam, later New York) operated under a fundamentally different naming logic that created enormous genealogical complexity when English naming conventions arrived.
Virginia's Classical Naming Tradition
The Tidewater Virginia gentry developed a naming tradition entirely unlike either New England or New Netherland. The Virginia planter class aspired to be English aristocracy, and their naming choices reflected that aspiration.
Latin and Greek names signaling education, status, and Continental sophistication
- Lysander, Cornelius
- Beverley, Fielding
- Peyton (from the Peyton family)
A Virginia-specific practice: naming a son with his mother's maiden surname, keeping family alliances visible
- Carter Braxton
- Randolph Jefferson
- Landon Carter
Standard English given names from the gentry tradition — different from Puritan choices
- William, Robert, Charles
- Mary, Lucy, Anne
- George, Henry, Edmund
What Changes Across Eras
Colonial naming shifted across the 1620–1776 period in ways that affect what names feel authentic for a given generation.
- Use more extreme virtue names in Puritan contexts — the first generation was most intense
- Use Dutch patronymics consistently in New Netherland contexts before 1664
- Use Old Testament names freely in New England — they were more common than in later generations
- Keep names short and punchy in backcountry/frontier contexts — Scots-Irish naming preferred simpler forms
- Use extreme virtue names like Submit or Silence in New England — they declined significantly after 1700
- Use pure Dutch patronymics in New York — by 1720-1750, anglicization was well advanced
- Use only English names for Southern gentry — classical and surname-as-first-name were widespread by this period
- Ignore Quaker naming if your character is from Pennsylvania — the "plain" naming tradition was strict
Common Questions
Why do so many colonial American names sound so unusual to modern ears?
Because we're seeing only the survivors. Historical naming is filtered through genealogy databases and historical records — the names that got written down and preserved were often the most distinctive. But the same communities that produced "Thankful" and "Increase" also had dozens of Johns, Marys, and Williams. Puritan communities had high name reuse — the same names recycled across family networks — which is why one family might have three cousins named John while also having a Preserved, a Mehitabel, and an Ebenezer. The ordinary names survived alongside the unusual ones; historical fiction tends to highlight the unusual ones for atmosphere.
How were enslaved people named in the colonial period?
This is complex and important. Enslaved Africans brought to colonial America had their given names stripped and replaced — often by their enslavers — with classical names (Caesar, Pompey, Cato, Scipio), diminutive English names (Sambo, Cuffy, Quash), or occasionally African-derived names when enslavers were trying to preserve some degree of ethnic identification for labor reasons. The practice of giving enslaved people classical Roman names is particularly documented in Virginia plantation records. African Americans maintained their own naming traditions within these constraints, creating dual-name systems — an "outside" name used with enslavers and an "inside" name used within the community. Historical fiction set in this period should engage with this history thoughtfully.
What surnames were most common in colonial America?
It varies significantly by region. In New England: Smith, Jones, Brown, Williams, Taylor, Davis, and the distinctive Puritan surnames like Mather, Noyes, Cotton, Hutchinson, Bradstreet, Winthrop. In Virginia: Randolph, Carter, Lee, Washington, Jefferson, Custis, Beverly, Fitzhugh — the interlocking web of gentry families. In Dutch New York: Van Rensselaer, Van Cortlandt, Schuyler, Stuyvesant, Livingston (Scots ancestry). In Pennsylvania Quaker communities: Penn, Pemberton, Hartwell, Morris, Sharpless, Fell. On the Scots-Irish frontier: MacPherson, Campbell, O'Brien, Henderson, McKay, Morrison, Zimmermann (German frontier).
