Pilgrim surnames for Thanksgiving

Painting "Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620" (1899) by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

Thanksgiving is almost here!

I’ve already posted about Pilgrim names and Pilgrim baby names, so this year let’s try Pilgrim surnames. Would any of them make good baby names?

Here are the 37 surnames of the 41 men who signed the Mayflower Compact:

  1. Alden (John Alden)
  2. Allerton (Isaac Allerton, John Allerton)
  3. Billington (John Billington)
  4. Bradford (William Bradford)
  5. Brewster (William Brewster)
  6. Britteridge (Richard Britteridge)
  7. Browne (Peter Browne)
  8. Carver (John Carver)
  9. Chilton (James Chilton)
  10. Clarke (Richard Clarke)
  11. Cooke (Francis Cooke)
  12. Crackstone (John Crackstone)
  13. Doty (Edward Doty)
  14. Eaton (Francis Eaton)
  15. English (Thomas English)
  16. Fletcher (Moses Fletcher)
  17. Fuller (Samuel Fuller, Edward Fuller)
  18. Gardiner (Richard Gardiner)
  19. Goodman (John Goodman)
  20. Hopkins (Stephen Hopkins)
  21. Howland (John Howland)
  22. Lester (Edward Lester)
  23. Margeson (Edmund Margeson)
  24. Martin (Christopher Martin)
  25. Mullins (William Mullins)
  26. Priest (Degory Priest)
  27. Rigsdale (John Rigsdale)
  28. Rogers (Thomas Rogers)
  29. Soule (George Soule)
  30. Standish (Myles Standish)
  31. Tilley (Edward Tilley, John Tilley)
  32. Tinker (Thomas Tinker)
  33. Turner (John Turner)
  34. Warren (Richard Warren)
  35. White (William White)
  36. Williams (Thomas Williams)
  37. Winslow (Edward Winslow, Gilbert Winslow)

Some aren’t too appropriate (I’m looking at you, Crackstone!) but I think many of the others — Martin, Warren, Brewster, Fletcher, Lester — would be great options for Thanksgiving Day babies.

Which of the above surnames would you be most likely to use as a first name?

Source: Mayflower Compact signatories – Wikipedia

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