2019: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 3 (Unusual Name)

I am writing about two names I find unusual.  One I know the origins (to some extent) but the other continues to mystify me.

The origin of the unusual name that continues to be a brick wall for me is the name 'Daisley'.

My grandparents, Harry and Gertie Allen, drew upon family names when naming their 11 children.  My father Willam John was named after his two grandfathers: William Daisley Allen and John Albert Cooper.  Although my Grandfather was called Harry, his actual name was Henry and his middle name 'Woodland' was his mother's maiden name.  Woodland was also used as the middle name for one of my uncles.  Another uncle was given the middle name of Daisley.


My grandparents were already deceased before I got into research my roots.  Although my aunts were never interested enough to pursue research, they were full of stories of family lore.  I have always been lead to believe that 'Daisley' was a family name.  In my two decades of genealogy researching, I have yet to find anyone with that name (first, middle or last) prior to my great-grandfather.  Granted, I have only been able to go back two generations past William Daisley and have the maiden names of the woman who married into the family.

The other unusual name is the name my mother goes by: 'Eveleen' (pronounced Eve-lynn).  Her full birth name is Pearl Mary Eveleen Schell.  As a child she never used any of the names as she was always known as 'Sis' because her sister (older by only 15 months) could not pronounce 'Sister' and the nickname stuck.  Even at the age of 89, members of our extended family still call her Sis.  When my father's work required them to relocate away from the small village where they were both from, and had built their home after marriage, Mom made the decision to go by a more mature name in her new environment.  Her first two names were from her grandmothers: Elsie Pearl (nee Mumberson) Bates and Mary (nee Deadman) Schell.  According to my mother, her parents added 'Eveleen' as she was born on her Aunt Effie's birthday. 

In my genealogy research, I found that 'Aunt Effie' was Eveline Bailey, the wife of Frank Mumberson, my mother's first cousin 3 times removed.  Although the spelling is different, Frank and Eveline had a daughter Betty Eveleen - the same spelling assigned to my mother.

Why do I consider the name 'Eveleen' unusual?  Over the course of my lifetime, I have rarely ever heard people pronounce or spell my mother's name correctly.  Most people pronouce it as 'Ev-lyn' or 'Eva-lean'.