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kiterunner
05-03-11, 11:02
I've come across a Roman Catholic baptism (of a girl) from Lancashire 1796 where the first name is given as Else. What do you think the English version would be, please?
tenterfieldjulie
05-03-11, 11:05
Elsie or Elsa.
Margaret in Burton
05-03-11, 11:30
I would say Elsie
Margaret in Burton
05-03-11, 11:33
It doesn't appear to be listed on translation sites
Rachel
05-03-11, 11:59
'What's in a name' says Elsa and Elisabeth
'Behind the name' says it's a short form of Elisabeth

http://www.behindthename.com/nm/e2.php

My parents had a lovely Dutch friend named Else (or Els)
Fi aka Wheelie Spice
05-03-11, 12:11
Could it be Elise. This is a name in my family
maggie_4_7
05-03-11, 12:21
Could it be Elise. This is a name in my family

I was thinking that my ex-boyfriend's sister was named Elise a German name.
Uncle John
05-03-11, 13:11
I can only think that Else was a "Latin" name made up by the priest. It doesn't conform to Latin name construction.
Olde Crone
05-03-11, 14:16
Most likely to be some variant of Elisabeth I should think. I've never heard of any Roman Catholic being baptised as Elsie and certainly not in the 1700s.

OC
Margaret in Burton
05-03-11, 14:22
Most likely to be some variant of Elisabeth I should think. I've never heard of any Roman Catholic being baptised as Elsie and certainly not in the 1700s.

OC


OH's great aunt was Elsie Mary. She was RC. We have looked at the records at the church some time ago and I don't remember it saying anything other that, Elsie Mary. This was in 1897.
My MIL was baptised RC in 1926 and they were still using Latin in the register then.
kiterunner
05-03-11, 14:45
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'm really hoping it's Alice! But it seems more likely to be Elizabeth I suppose. I don't think there would be an Elsie in 1796.
Olde Crone
05-03-11, 14:48
Oh, lol, I was going to say Alice, on the grounds that I have an "Emme" who turned out to be an Amy!

OC
Asa
05-03-11, 15:21
Elsie is Victorian so it wouldn't be that. I would have guessed at Elizabeth but I don't see why it couldn't be Alice - latinization does sometimes seem to be guessed at sometimes.
Janet in Yorkshire
05-03-11, 17:43
I have several instances of Ellis in one line, between 1750 & 1800,. They were C of E though, not RC.
We have always believed Ellis to be from the same stem as Alys/Alis/Alice

Jay
tenterfieldjulie
06-03-11, 03:24
Not sure where Elise fits in, although I think it is probably originally French.
kiterunner
06-03-11, 09:15
There wouldn't have been anyone named Elise in Lancashire in 1796.
biz
06-03-11, 17:43
Hi ,on my birth cert I am named has Elsebeth,other varients being Elizabeth and Elisabeth
Mary from Italy
08-03-11, 23:54
As UJ says, it isn't Latin.
Uncle John
09-03-11, 07:45
Per ardua ad astra. Work hard and you can afford a car.
tenterfieldjulie
09-03-11, 08:05
Could it possibly have been Ilse? I saw that name the other day, but I'm not sure of whether it would have been used then.
Rachel
09-03-11, 08:47
Badly spelled Elisa or I guess with a Lancs accent it could be Alice, misheard

(I'm trying out a Lancs accent)
Phoenix
09-03-11, 09:29
I take it that you are looking at the original, rather than a transcript?

In general, I would have thought that any variant of Elizabeth would be rendered Elisabetha and Alice as Alicia. Do you have access to the other baptisms, to see whether the priest was English and whether there were other odd names?

I would have expected Elsa rather than Else. My experience is southern, rather than Lancs, but the diminutives of the time for Elizabeth are largely Betty. (Jane Austen uses Lizzie or Eliza, but that doesn't crop up in registers)
Olde Crone
09-03-11, 09:55
And of course there is never any accounting for idiosyncratic abbreviations.

OC
kiterunner
09-03-11, 10:22
No, it's a transcript, Phoenix. One of the godparents is Else too. It's on Google Books - Publications of the Catholic Record Society, Volume 15 and I only get a snippet view, but you just gave me the idea to search the book for the word Else, and guess what? One of the other Else entries is Else Livsa with "Alicia Livesey added in modern writing". Also there is a baptism for John Clarkson, son of "Joanne et Else Southard", and looking on FamilySearch, some of the children in that family have mother's name given as Elisia or Elicia, and her name is Alice on the marriage! Think that settles it - Else is Alice!

Thanks, everyone!
Uncle John
10-03-11, 10:58
Christopher Robin will be relieved!