Moses Shattuck and Naomi Weatherbee of Brookline, New Hampshire, were married in 1802 and had a total of six children:
- Roxanna, b. 1803
- Asia, b. 1804
- Africa, b. 1807
- Europe, b. 1809
- America, b. 1810
- Mary, b. 1812
All four of the babies named after continents were boys.
Those four continent names — Asia, Africa, Europe, and America — cover most of the known world of the early 1800s. (Antarctica was first spotted in 1820.)
These days, continent names (such as Asia, America, Africa, and Australia) are used more often as girl names than as boy names in the U.S.
Source: Shattuck, Lemuel. Memorials of the Descendants of William Shattuck. Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1855.
Image: A new map of the world (1800) (LOC)
Roxanna and Mary on boys seem very odd.
Continent names seem gender neutral to me, I wouldnt be dumbfounded if I met a boy named Africa or Asia.
Oops misread that as all children were boys. Now it makes sence.