Did Puritans address each other by surname?

Some Puritan groups had naming practices which by modern standards are very unusual.

Especially given the cumbersome length of the ‘slogan’ names, I’m curious as to whether Puritans were commonly addressed by their surnames. Unusual or difficult first names would seem to be justified in a situation where they were hardly ever used.

I imagine teachers might address their students by surname, and adults would be addressed as Mr./Mrs. (or Miss) Surname. The one place where I might see an issue is address of one’s children and siblings.

My English instructor did say that Puritans were formal and addressed each other as “Goodman” or “Goody” (which was short for “Goodwife”) and their last names.

We have to read The Crucible and a lot of people in the play were addressing each other that way. The children in the play were called by their first names-and so was Rev. Parris’ slave Tituba.

paula

That’s it–if I ever have me a son, I’m gonna name him “Humiliation.” And if I have a girl, well, “Forsaken” has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? :eek:

I prefer Jesus-Christ-Came-Into-The-World-To-Save Smith. Or, for a more modern twist, Do-As-You-Would-Be-Done-By Johnson.

Known as J.C. and Dewie, naturally.

My favorite Puritan name is Nicholas If-Jesus-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barebon. He was an English economist (1640-1698) and his name was given to him by his strongly Puritan father. According to Wikipedia he always went by just Nicholas Barbon. And can you blame him?

I think I would go for “Wrestling” and “Fly-fornication,” respectively.

This was an eventual reveal in the last book/episode of Inspector Morse series. His mother was a Quaker and his father was a fan of a great English sailor/explorer. Thus he had a puritan style first name he kept hidden and never used for years Endeavour

Jubilation T. Cornpone

Most early colonists called men “Master (surname)” (if they were the head of a house) or “Goodman (surname)” and women “Goodwife” or “Goody”. “Mistress” was also used as a title for women coming from respected families or whose husbands held more esteemed roles in the community.

Mr. and Ms. weren’t used in very early Colonial America (pre-1650), I’ve been told.

Kids were called their first names.

There’s always Visit-The-Infidel-With-Explanatory-Pamphlets and Smite-The-Unbeliever-With-Cunning-Arguments…

“Humiliation Monkey” does. “Forsaken Monkey” just doesn’t sing to me.

It will. A band is formed at the moment.

I read of a Puritan girl introducing herself as “Through Tribulation We Reach the Kingdom of Heaven, but my friends call me Tribby for short.”