​Wicocomico Indian

Taptico/Tapp, Pinn and Nickens
A Genealogy Site In Progress

What are naming patterns?  Naming patterns refer to the conventions and traditions that families follow when naming their children. And yes, I too have frequently thought my families’ naming patterns consist only of naming every child of every child of every generation the same thing.

 

For example, my maternal third great grandfather, John Harrison Reynolds, had sons named (the obligatory) George Washington Reynolds, William Harrison Reynolds and Henry Harrison Reynolds. William Harrison Reynolds had sons named John Henry Reynolds and of course, George Washington Reynolds. John Henry Reynolds had sons named William Harrison Reynolds, John Reynolds, Henry Reynolds and George Reynolds. Needless to say, all the girls were named Sarah, Elizabeth, Jane or a combination of these names.

 

This post, however, is about the Tapps not Reynolds. And it’s to mark the recurrence of the name “Elethia” or “Leethy” in the Tapp lineage. The name “Elethia” has been spelled both with and without an “i” but since this difference is likely a typo, I’m using the spelling “Elethia” here.

 

As far as I have seen, Abner Tapp and Frances Cate Tapp (my 5th great grandparents) were the first to name their daughter Elethia and call her Leethy. (Elethia #1)  Leethy Tapp married William Horn in Orange County, NC and their daughter, Catherine Horn, married Thomas McGowan Hastings.  Catherine and McGowan, my 3rd great grandparents, had my great great grandmother, Elethia Hastings Hicks, also called Leethy. (Elethia #2)

 

Abner’s daughter, Elizabeth, married William Workman in Orange County, NC. Their first born daughter was named Elethia. (Elethia #3) Abner’s son, Richard Tapp, married Rebecca Hopson and they named a  daughter “Elethia Ann.” (Elethia #4) She married John Umstead Hart in Orange County, NC. and named their daughter Mary Eletha Hart.  (Elethia #5) Mary Eletha died when she was just six years old.

 

Finally, there’s Elethia Horn. (Elethia #6) She makes the circle, I guess, back to Elethia Tapp, Abner and Frances’s daughter. Elethia Horn was the daughter of Mary Settle and Vincent Horn, brother of Catherine Horn (mother of Elethia #2.)

 

In doing my research for this post, it became apparent to me that all of the Elethias in my tree originated with the daughter of Abner Tapp. None of Abner’s brothers or sisters have the name among their children or grandchildren. That makes me wonder if the name came from Elethia’s mother’s side of the family, the Cates.

 

I posted previously a bit about Frances and her father, Richard Cate. Her mother’s name was Emelia or Milly, but no one appears to know the mother’s maiden name or who any of her family members were. So maybe that name came from Frances’s family? Food for thought and hopefully a clue to tracking down Emelia’s maiden name.

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Also kudos to anybody who is able to figure out the relationships between all the Elethias!