christian name

[jolynn]

hello, my great grandfather,s christian name was given on his daughters marriage certificate as aquilla, he was born in the 1850,s, is there any similar names or could this one be right, when my grandmother gave this name to the registrar it would have been verbally as she could not read or write english at that time, i just wondered if the name could have been spelt differently or lost in the translation, it definately say,s aquilla though on the cert. but that is not a common male name or was it then? can anyone help, regards, john

[elba]

Not a common name, but it is a Roman biblical name meaning 'eagle'. In the New Testament the apostle Paul stayed with 'Aquila' and his wife Priscilla/Prisca.

[jolynn]

hello elba, thankyou for your reply, it is,nt very common is it, would it have been around in the mid 1800,s, also could it have been mis taken for something else. what do think, regards, john

[peggymckee]

My GGF was born in the mid-1800s near Carrara and his first name is Ermete, which is a form of the name Hermes. His wife's name was Melania, which is derived from the Greek, meaning "black or dark". This was the name of a Roman saint who gave all her wealth to charity in the 5th century.

I think it was actually not uncommon to give children classical Greek or other ancient names. And Italian as a language contain many words of Greek origin. Good luck, Peg

[elba]

hello elba, thankyou for your reply, it is,nt very common is it, would it have been around in the mid 1800,s, also could it have been mis taken for something else. what do think, regards, john

Sorry John - I've really no idea. The only reference to it being a name was that above. Unfortunately, while you can search for surnames in Italian phone books, you can't search for first names.

[jolynn]

thankyou both, i appriciate it, if anyone has any further thoughts they will also be appriciated. regards, john