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Female Ancestor First Names and Nicknames (+ Searchable Guide)

By Family Tree Editors

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Young women walking their cat in November 1929 in Paris, France.
Young women walking their cats in November 1929 in Paris, France.
(Photo by Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Many women went by a nickname in the 19th century. These monikers—the 19th century’s most popular, according to the Given Names Frequency Project—may help you identify her in databases, indexes and records.

Popular Historical Female Names

1801-1810

Mary
Elizabeth
Sarah
Nancy
Ann
Catherine
Margaret
Jane
Susan
Hannah
Rebecca
Martha
Lucy
Betty
Sally

1841-1850

Mary
Sarah
Elizabeth
Martha
Margaret
Ann
Emily
Catherine
Nancy
Ellen
Susan
Jane
Frances
Lucy
Harriet

1891-1900

Mary
Elizabeth
Ann
Helen
Margaret
Ellen
Catherine
Lily
Florence
Ada
Lou
Ethel
Emily
Ruth
Rose

Female Nicknames

Who knew your great-grandma Mary could go by at least seven nicknames in genealogical records? Use our list of nicknames for more than 200 given names to figure out the various ways your female ancestor might appear in census, court, newspaper and other records. When searching databases, look for her under all possible nicknames. Note the same woman might show up with different nicknames in different records.

Female Nickname Searchable Guide

The same nickname might be associated with different given names. If all you have is a nickname and you’re looking for possible given names, use the search box in the upper right corner of the table.

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