Census Gleams With a Wealth of Names

In 1990 our country will begin the enumeration of the population for its 21st census.

However, when the first census of the United States was taken in 1790, the machinery of our federal government had just been constructed. Many of our ancestors had already been here for five or six generations.

For genealogists, the 1790 federal census is an important source for clues as to where their early American families lived. If you can locate your families in the first census, chances are also good that some of your ancestors participated in the Revolutionary War.

That first census (from the states for which that schedule still exists) reveals there were about 27,337 different surnames. Estimates are that the entire number of surnames in our country at that time did not much exceed 30,000--with most of them being English and Scottish.

Many surnames that appear in the 1790 census probably have passed out of existence because people tend to avoid and change peculiar ones, especially those that can be ridiculed. Many given names, which appeared frequently in the past, have become obsolete. Our names, particularly given names, have always followed popular trends.

Some unusual and amusing (at least to our 20th-Century ears) combinations of given and surnames noted in the 1790 census are:

Anguish Lemmon, Mercy Pepper, Pleasant Basket, Cutlip Hoof, Hardy Baptist, Truelove Sparks, Snow Frost, Mourning Chestnut, Boston Frog, Jedediah Brickhouse, Hannah Petticoat and Hannah Cheese, Ruth Shaves, Christy Forgot, Joseph Came, Joseph Rodeback, Agreen Crabtree, River Jordan, Booze Still, Comfort Clock, Sharp Blount, Sarah Simpers, Barbary Staggers and Noble Gun.

While genealogists researching their early American lines often chuckle upon finding an ancestor with a “funny” name, they soon learn that their family tree contains many names--surnames as well as given names--that fall into this category.

The most common surnames found in the 1790 census are: Smith, Brown, Davis, Jones, Johnson, Clark, Williams, Miller and Wilson.

Few middle names or initials occur in the first census, suggesting that this naming custom did not gain popularity until later.

The Declaration of Independence was signed by some of the most distinguished men of the period--and one assumes they would have signed their complete names--yet, on this famous document only three signatures appear with middle names: Robert Treat Paine, Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee.

Using the 1790 census helps genealogists discover the variant spellings under which their ancestors’ surnames may appear in other records. For example, the surname “Morgan” is also listed as Maughan, Maughon, Morgain, Morgen, Morggen, Morgin, Morgon, Moughan and Moughon.

For some additional information and statistics on U.S. censuses, consult “A Century of Population Growth, 1790-1900,” originally published by the Bureau of the Census and now available in reprint from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21202 ($42.45 postpaid).

The microfilm publication (M637) of the National Archives of the original 1790 census includes inhabitants in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Vermont.

The schedules for Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee (then known as the Southwest Territory) and Virginia are missing, as are the North Carolina counties of Granville, Caswell and Orange. However, some reconstructed schedules, prepared from state and local tax lists, exist to aid researchers.

The original extant 1790 schedules were printed by the Bureau of the Census in 1907-08 and have since been privately reprinted. Most of the printed 1790 censuses can be found in libraries, state archives, historical societies and at the National Archives and its 11 regional branches.