Personal Names of Indians of Pennsylvania

In the following pages about six hundred and fifty personal names are given, not counting repetitions. These are practically all additions to the vocabularies above mentioned, and so form a very material extension of our knowledge of the Lenni-Lenape language.

Moreover, Indian personal names were usually combinations of nominal, pronominal and adjectival themes, so that this list is calculated to throw much light on the habits of thought, the mental characteristics, the structure of their language and the environments of the aborigines.

The student of the origin of language will be interested to notice that certain sounds are almost never used in beginning personal names.

The frequency of the letters of the English alphabet in beginning the names hereinafter given appears by the following table. The third column shows the frequency of the several letters, taken from a list of 15,800 names of white inhabitants of New Jersey, 1670-1730. Dividing this number by 26 we have 600 such persons, the same number as of the aborigines named. The comparison is therefore based on an equal number of names of Indians and whites, and approximately the same period. Read more...

The following names of Delaware Indians are gleaned from the Pennsylvania Records, and the Pennsylvania Archives, First Series. Many of these Indians were formerly residents of New Jersey, and they all spoke the same language as the aborigines living between the Delaware and the ocean.

• Akalawhanind to Aysolickon 
• Chepelunguenawnehink to Custologo 
• Essoweyowaltend to Jandahass 
• Keekeuscund to Linge-hanoa 
• Manangy to Musha Meelan 
• Nalehileehque to Nudimus 
• Ollumapies to Owehela 
• Paxinosa to Quittiequont 
• Saagochque to Shawtagh 
• Taarlichigh to To-wegh-kapy 
• Wayshaghinichon to Wonspris 

Other Resources

New Jersey Indian Names

Notes about the Book:

Source: Personal Names Of Indians Of New Jersey, By William Nelson, 1904, The Paterson History Club, Paterson, N. J.

Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual output. Symbols used in many cases were the closest we could find to the written page.  Many (-) were used in names and caused by line brakes, these were joined together.