November 16

I don't remember hearing much about Oneida Hicks growing up. I sort of love this picture, though. 

You know how I am about names, right? On the Hicks side of the family there's an Odelcie and an Odice -- brother and sister. I think they would be cousins -- or maybe an aunt and uncle -- to Oneida. Can't think of any other "O" names in the Hicks family right off the top of my head, but there probably are some more. 

It's interesting to see how the different branches of the family tree are characterized by different kinds of names. For instance, on the Thomas side they are all standard names like George and William and John. There are also a couple of uncommon Thomas names back in the early days -- my favorite is Peleg. 

On the Treat side they like the name Pearl (for boys) and also the name Dallas; they liked 'frilly' names like Fairy and Belle and Faun for girls. 

The Burford side of the family liked Alexander and George for boys, and Lora and Jewel for girls, with a few more unusual names -- like Killough, and Calder, and Wathada. And they liked calling people by their middle name, or using someone's last name for a new baby's first name.

Now, as for the Arnold/Carter/Hicks branches of the family tree -- forget about it! They just went hog wild when it came to thinking up names for their babies. I've heard tell that Grandma Hicks even asked friends and neighbors for suggestions in coming up with names for hers. Her youngest daughter actually ended up with four names -- Odell Avanell Bertha Bernice! Well, there's not enough room here for me to even get started on that list. We'll save that for another day.