Can Marjory and Elizabeth be used synonymously?

+4 votes
164 views

Gibb, George Duncan "Life and Times of Robert Gib, Lord of Carriber" London: Longmans Green, 1874.  https://digital.nls.uk/dcn23/9524/95248622.23.pdf Vol. 1 p. 359 (chart) has Marjory Young of Seaton marrying Francis Duguid of Auchihuif.

Leslie, Charles ""Historical records of the family of Leslie from 1067 to 1868-9". Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1869. Vol. III p. 446-8 in https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Historical_records_of_the_family_of_Lesl/OFIBAAAAQAAJ, Has Elizabeth Seton marrying Francis Duguid of Auchihove, 7th Bt

I believe these are the same woman. Dates/Location are right. Is Elizabeth ever used for Marjory as a first name in 17th C Scottish records?

WikiTree profile: Marjory Young Lady Auchinhove
in The Tree House by Neil Stewart G2G6 Mach 1 (12.0k points)

2 Answers

+7 votes

Hi Neil,

My first impression and answer, without checking your sources, would be a most definitive "No". Marjory, in any context, as far as I am aware, has never been used as a substitute for Elizabeth in Scots history. Isobel, Isabel, Isabella and Tibbs would be much more likely variants of Elizabeth in Scots history. The two different surnames would not suggest that they are the same person, and it is much more likely that they are probably both his wives. Young of Seton and Seton would be two completely different families. I would like to suggest some further research, if you trying to formalize your family research in this manner. Maybe this will help. Female Nicknames

by David Urquhart G2G6 Pilot (167k points)
edited by David Urquhart

Much appreciated David. I've found https://www.whatsinaname.net/ quite useful.

And yes, it was a long shot. The Setons of Blair and the Duguids of Auchinhove were both Catholic apologists and so a Seton-Duguid union is quite feasible. The geography favours a union between wealthy families in Bourtie and Aboyne parishes.

+7 votes

No, I don't think Marjory and Elizabeth have ever been considered to be even remotely related.

Margery/Marjorie (etc.) was originally a variant of Margaret, but was used as an independent name as early as the 13th century, to the point where a mid-17th century writer derived it from the name of the herb marjoram.

Elizabeth, of course, is known for its great proliferation of diminutives in English, some of them with little to no obvious connection to the original: Eliza, Lizzy, Betty, Betsey, Tetty, Tetsy, Beth, Bess, Elspeth, Elspie, Elsie, Libby, Tibby. It shares its derivation with Isabel, which the popular naming pool ignored from very early on, but which sometimes caused confusion when scholarly-types used them interchangeably.

I suspect the difference in the bride's name is due to either a misreading (possibly of an abbreviation) or a double given name (which would've been extremely rare but not totally impossible in 17c Scotland). There's also the possibility of an error (typo) in one of the books. I don't know anything about Scottish recordkeeping, but the best way to resolve this would seem to be to track down the marriage record that the books are citing?

(Name derivations etc. based on E.G. Withycombe: The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Third Edition, 1977.)

by J Palotay G2G6 Mach 8 (87.2k points)

Thanks J Palotay

It was a bit of a stab in the dark. It comes down to several possibilities: 1) two wives for Francis; 2) an error in one of the sources; 3) same person with a double given name (highly improbable). I'll do some further research! enlightened

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