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NAMES FOUND IN THE 1860 CENSUS FOR WALTON COUNTY, FLORIDA

The following is an analysis of the names found in the 1860 Walton County census.

SURNAMES

The white population of the county was 2,590, divided into 442 households.  There were 317 different surnames represented.  531 persons (20%) had Scottish surnames and 328 of those had surnames which started with "Mc".  Names that are thought of as common today were not especially common in this census.   Smith only represented 13 people or about 1/2% of the population.   Jones was almost non-existent, with only 3 people.

All of the surnames which encompassed at least 1% of the county population (more than 25 persons) are set forth below with the number of each and the percentage of the county it represented:

1  McDonald    72   2.8%
2  Ward        57   2.2%
3  Campbell    48   1.8%
4  McLean      44   1.7%
5  McLeod      37   1.4%
6  Anderson    35   1.3%
7  Morrison    31   1.2%
8  Evans       30   1.2%
9  McKinnon    26   1.0%
10 Bowers      26   1.0%
11 Davis       26   1.0%
12 Infinger    26   1.0%
FIRST NAMES OF MALES

Not surprisingly, William was the most common first name for males, with John a close second.   The two together accounted for about 25% of the male population.   The 10 most popular first names were:

1    William   13%
2    John      11%
3    James      8%
4    Daniel     4%
5    Henry      3%
6    Thomas     3%
7    George     3%
8    Alexander  3%
9    Joseph     3%
10   Benjamin   2%
The prevalence of Alexander was due to the strong Scottish influence in the county.   The Scottish naming pattern was somewhat different from the non-Scots.   Most notable were the popularity of Angus, Neill, Norman, Duncan and Malcolm, the greater popularity of John, the reduced popularity of William and James, and the almost non-existence of Henry, Thomas, George, Joseph and Benjamin.   Among the Scots, the most popular 10 were:

1    John      18%
2    Alexander  8%
3    William    8%
4    Angus      5%
5    Neill      4%
6    James      4%
7    Daniel     3%
8    Norman     3%
9    Duncan     3%
10   Malcolm    3%

Looking at the non-Scots alone also gives a different result in that James surpasses John, Alexander disappears, and Charles makes the list.   Daniel seems to be one of the few names which had about the same level of popularity among the Scots as among the non-Scots.   The top 10 for the non-Scots were:

1    William   14%
2    James     10%
3    John       9%
4    Henry      4%
5    Thomas     4%
6    Daniel     4%
7    George     3%
8    Joseph     3%
9    Benjamin   2%
10   Charles    1%
FIRST NAMES OF FEMALES

The first names among the females followed a similar pattern to the males.   Mary was by far the most common, equaling the next two, Sarah and Nancy, put together.   These 3 names together accounted for almost one-third of the females in the county.   The 10 most common names were:

1     Mary     14%
2     Sarah     9%
3     Nancy     7%
4     Elizabeth 6%
5     Martha    5%
6     Margaret  4%
7     Catharine 3%
8     Eliza     2%
9     Christian 2%
10    Jane      2%
10    Susan     2%

As with the males, the naming pattern was significantly affected by the Scottish influence with its greater popularity of Sarah, Nancy, Catharine, and Margaret, the use of Christian, Flora, Isabella, and Jeanette, and the reduced popularity of Elizabeth and Martha.   The use of any of these Scottish names in families without Scottish surnames might be a clue that the mother was from a Scottish family.   The most common names among the Scottish women were:

1    Mary      16%
2    Sarah     13%
3    Nancy     10%
4    Catharine 10%
5    Margaret   9%
6    Christian  7%
7    Flora      5%
8    Elizabeth  3%
9    Isabella   3%
10   Jeanette   3%

Taking the non-Scottish women alone, the name frequency looked like this:

1    Mary      13%
2    Sarah      8%
3    Elizabeth  7%
4    Martha     6%
5    Nancy      6%
6    Eliza      2%
7    Susan      2%
8    Margaret   2%
9    Jane       2%
10   Catharine  2%