What's in a Name? Willet, Orlando & Richard

As we learned from Richmond Worden's pension applications, his family moved to Oswego, New York, in about 1820. That's where, on February 4, 1843, Richmond's great grandson (and my great great grandfather) Willet Orlando Worden was born.

The baby's first name, which means "little William" came from his uncle Willet Randolph Worden (1821-1903) but the only place I've found that name used (other than in his military records) is in the 1850 U.S. Census.

[Oswego Township. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

By 1854 the Wordens had left New York State for Cedar Rapids, Iowa and in the 1860 U.S. Census, Willet was represented only by its initial letter with Orlando being spelled in full. Orlando is an Italian version of Roland, a name with Germanic roots meaning "famous land" which was introduced into England by the Normans. I haven't found any Worden family connection with the name Orlando; a search of regional newspapers shows a number of public figures with that name and there's always the possibility his parents knew of the character of that name in Shakespeare's "As  you Like It"* or even Ludovico Ariosto's 16th century poem "Orlando Furioso" which remained popular for centuries.

[Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

 During his military service in the 24th Iowa Infantry from 1862 to 1865, his name is recorded as Willet O. Worden.

[The National Archives, Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers

Who Served in Organizations From the State of Iowa. Source Fold3.com]

In the 1870 U.S. Census for Fairview Township in Jones County, Iowa, his name was listed as Orlando Worden.

[Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.]

Then in the 1880 U.S. Census, his name was listed as Richard Warden.**

[Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

And he remained Richard for the rest of his life (and beyond).

[Find A Grave Memorial# 8260130, photo by Gail Wenhardt (#47280322)]

It seems that my great great grandfather ended up not only rejecting his given name but also dropped his middle name, preferring to be called by something entirely different. His reasons for doing that are lost in the mists of time.


*Shakespeare's plays were very popular in 19th century America. You can read more about that here.
**A common rendering of the surname.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.