30332: Benson : RE: 30330: (reply) Chamberlain: 30327: lfr13: Re: 30317: Names ending in 'ius' (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Legrace Benson <legrace@twcny.rr.com>

Reply to 30330: A guess, Greg Chamberlain, not careful and thorough archival
research:  Many slave names in colonial North and South America at a certain
period were derived from Latin, to a lesser extent from Latinized  Greek
names drawn from classical literature, and from the Latin Bible in use in
France in the case of French colonies. Hence  Koffi might become Casseus,
and there were a fair number of Hyppolites as well as a plethora of -ius
and -eus endings in the names of slaves given "classical" names. Others on
this list know more about this than I do, but I have seen those names on
lists of slaves held on various plantations in S-D.  The offspring of French
colonists, earning or granted Freed status might take or be granted the
French family name, and those who were deeded property in the panic of
French flight at the time of the revolution would have taken not only
property deeds but also family names. In contrast those who were born in
Africa or of African parents in S-D and in bondage would have received their
working names from the colonist in charge, and in the period when names from
classical literature were the fad would have retained the -ius or -eus of
Latin.  Had the parents had the privilege of naming, Haiti would still have
names like Aya, Iya, and the like. The name differences would then relate to
property-holding , i.e. class differences which endure into the present.
Lest one think this is a purely Haitian phenomenon, note that most languages
have terms of disapprobation for rural workers who are not land owners.
 I hope those whose knowledge is more precise than mine will respond to
Chamberlain's query.