Names From… Laura Ingalls Wilder (And Family)
The “Little House On the Prairie” books were amoung the first books I read as a grade-schooler, and I’m sure I am not the only one. However, I didn’t appreciate what great namers ran in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family! Here is a list of Laura’s family members, from her great-grandmother’s family down to her daughter’s.** These people were all real.
Laura’s Paternal Great-Great-Grandparents:
Jonathan Delano and Anne Ladd
Ezekiel Colby and Sally Fowler
Elijah Blood and Eunice Sleeman
Jonathan Ingalls and Martha Jane Locke
Laura’s Paternal Great-Grandparents:
Samuel Ingalls and Margaret Delano
Nathan Colby and Eunice Blood
Laura’s Paternal Grandparents:
Landsford Ingalls and Laura Colby
Their kids:
- Peter Riley (Married Eliza Ann Quiner, kids were Alice, Ella, Peter , Lansford, Edith “Dolly Varden” and Edmond Llewellyn
- Charles Phillip (more on him later)
- Lydia Louise
- Polly Melona (married Henry Odin Quiner [Laura's mother's brother] and their kids were Louisa, Charles, Albert, Lottie, Ruby, and Lillian)
- Landsford James
- Laura Ladocia “Docia” (married August Waldvogel and they had two kids: Lena and August Eugene “Jean”. She then divorced Waldvogel and married Hiram “Hi” Forbes, and they had 7 daughters [names not listed!]
- Hiram Lemuel
- George Whiting
- Ruby Celestia
Laura’s Maternal Great-Great-Grandparents:
Allan Alexander Morse and Margaret Drummond
Laura’s Maternal Great-Grandparents:
Louis Tucker and Martha Gráinne Morse [the Martha of the book series] (her brothers were Alistair, Robbie, and Duncan, and her sister was Grisie, probably short for Grisell, her aunt’s name)
William Quiner and Margaret Doer
Laura’s Maternal Grandparents:
Henry Quiner and Charlotte Tucker (sister named Lydia)
Their Kids:
- Martha Morse (died at age 3 or 4)
- Joseph Carpenter (wife named Nancy)
- Henry Odin
- Martha Jane (married Charles Carpenter)
- Caroline Lake (more on her later)
- Eliza Ann
- Thomas Lewis (married Lillian Graham Hill and had 6 kids: Helen, Alice, Donald, Dugold, Lillian, and John)
** After Henry Quiner died, Charlotte Tucker remarried, to Frederic M. Holbrook, and they had 1 daughter:
- Charlotte E. “Lotty” Holbrook
The Wilders (Laura’s husband’s family, included b/c they have kickbutt names too)
Laura’s Great-in-laws:
Abel and Hannah Wilder
Justin and Diadema Day
Laura’s In-Laws:
James Mason Wilder and Angelina Albina Day
Their kids:
And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Laura’s immediate family!
Laura’s parents
Charles Phillip Ingalls & Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls
Their kids:
- Mary Amelia
- Laura Elizabeth
- Caroline Celestia “Carrie”
- Charles Frederick “Freddie” (died as a toddler)
- Grace Pearl
Almanzo Wilder and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s daughter:
- Rose Wilder Lane
There you have it! They have some AMAZING names in this family. My favorites are:
- Grace, Rose, Lillian, Helen, Elizabeth, Caroline, Celestia, Ruby, Eliza, Charlotte, Ruby, Lydia, Polly, Angelina, Melona, Laura, Amelia, and Gráinne for the girls.
- William, George, Henry, Charles, Phillip, Frederick, Elijah, Jonathan, Ezekiel, Alastair, Thomas, James, and quirky Almanzo for the boys.
WDYT? Do you have as cool or neater names on your family tree?
Cat said,
January 15, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I loved the Little House on the Prairie series when I was younger! I have to say, my favorite overall is Edmond Llewellyn, so nice and unexpected! I also love Almanzo, but I don’t know why. I always thought it was the neatest name in the series. I wonder what the etymology is…
People tended to have more traditional taste back then, which explains why we love the name so much, I guess! No JaydenMcLeebraden here!
I’ve done a lot of research in my own tree, and have done posts on the names before, so I won’t bore you with more here, but you can always check them out on my blog!
Paige said,
January 15, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I have, and they were very interesting and not boring whatsoever!
Lola said,
January 16, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I never minded the ” Little House” series probably because I essentially have the smae name as Laura (Elisabeth is my first middle) and I hated getting compared to her as a kid (it was everywhere in the early 70’s).
I remember being rather weirded out by the fact that Laura & Almanzo only had one daughter when everyone else had loads! But I do like quite a few of these, George Whiting & Ruby Celestia are my favorites. Tradition is a big thing, even now, I think. I see a lot of traditional names here and wonder why the further I get from Boston, the trendier things I see. Interesting post, Paige. I’m most impressed by the extent of this! My family’s so huge I only mention what is important to me at the moment!
Paige said,
January 16, 2009 at 7:31 pm
That’s so cool that you and Laura have the same name- though it must’ve been hard to be compared to a pioneer throughout your childhood.
George Whiting and Ruby Celestia are among my faves from this list, also. I wonder why I don’t see many Celestias around these days, incidentally: you’d think it would be an alternative for the Isabella/Sophia parents.
JNE said,
January 16, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Very fun post! I had the complete set of books when I was little and loved them. Of the names, Lena and Lydia are favorites of mine. But the one that jumped out at me was Ruby Celestia – great name!
Kate said,
January 18, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Caroline Celestia, Grace Pearl, Mary Amelia – love that family! What a fabulous selection of names… Great post Paige!
Paige said,
January 18, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Thanks! Someone should start a “Wall of Fame” list of families with great names… the Wilders, Ingallses, and the rest would be on it!
A “Wall of Shame” would be nice, too, with Bob Geldorf and Jason Lee on it, among many others…
bonniebrownhair said,
January 21, 2009 at 8:21 am
Hi, Paige! This is my first post to your blog. Thanks for the fabulous list.
The obvious one that stands out to me here (as it has to everyone) is Ruby Celestia. How pretty! I also like Lydia, Lena, Louisa, Charlotte, Caroline Lake, and Mary Amelia of the girls’ names. Diadema is intriguing… I’ve never seen it before. And Rose Wilder Lane’s full name is lovely — it makes me think of a wild rose growing in a little village path
On the boys’ list, I like Charles, Frederick, Philip, Edmond Llewellyn, Alistair, Duncan, and Henry. I’m intrigued by Landsford. It’s interesting seeing the trendy Riley in use so long ago. I’ve always been curious about Almanzo and Royal… they seem like such odd choices back then!
A few months ago, I cornered my mother and had her look up some of the names on our family tree. Favorites on girls include Leta, Alice, Flora, Demetra, Katherine, Stella, Cora, Daisy, Beulah, Jewel, and Hazel. Favorite boys’ names were Simeon, Arthur, Marshall, Jarrett, and Isaac Branson. A few of these are from the grandparents’ generation, but most of them are from before that (mid- to late- 1800’s). The oddest one was Methodius. I certainly won’t be bestowing THAT one on a son.
bonniebrownhair said,
January 21, 2009 at 8:23 am
Bonniebrownhair = Emmy Jo
Sometimes it lists me as one, sometimes as the other. I haven’t quite figured out how to make it consistent.
Paige said,
January 21, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Welcome, and thanks for stopping by!
Your family has great namers! Names I like especially from your tree are Flora, Stella, Cora, Daisy, Hazel, Arthur, and Branson as a middle name; I like it! Methodius IS pretty far into philosopher territory, but it would make a WOW middle name!
And it seems we have close to the same name taste when it comes to the Wilder-Ingalls-Quiner tree; Rose Wilder Lane was my favorite from the list, with Lydia, Charles, Philip, and of course Ruby Celestia close behind. Maybe she’ll get a post of her own someday!
appellationmountain said,
January 25, 2009 at 5:45 pm
What a tree! I don’t think mine is nearly as exciting – especially my mother’s side. (The Italians pretty much repeat names in a pattern.) But I keep thinking I *ought* to do some more digging – maybe there are a few gems.
wendyw said,
April 3, 2009 at 7:21 am
I would love to use some of this at a speaking engagement I am doing about Laura and her family at Independence KS little house days this year!
I wonder how these families didn’t seem eccentric with these very unusual names?
In th ose days the popular names were Mary and Emma, etc.
I was greatly privileged to have known my aunt born in 1898! and a great grandmother born in 1890. It was all boring Agnes, Anna and Elizabeth names for them. I always found it hard to believe that refined ma could adapt to harsh prairie life or go along with it.. she seemed so regal and I just found out she was descended from a Scottish Lord! No wonder! My great grandfather was born in Austria, as a Stieber, a name considered the envy of the princes of the land… what happened to the money when Laura’s family (and mine) came to America??
MY FATHER’S MOTHER’S SIDE HAD GREAT NAMES FOR BOYS INCLUDING ALOYSIUS, (people mispronounce it to this day) Wilhelm, Alexander, Genevieve,
Casimer.. I love the name Casimer! We knew them as Uncle Caz and Uncle Alley, etc. which really made it confusing! I think I was a teen before I knew their real names!
HOW MANY OF YOU INVENTED NEW NAMES FOR THE INGALLS? I ONCE ADDED SIBLINGS TO LAURAS AND GOT 18 KIDS. <My own family tradition is so dramatic, with the 11 kids and 13 from my great grandfather that it inspired me to make GREAT GRANDCHILDREN FOR LAURA AND ALL THE SIBLINGS! UP TO 1980! yes i invented all these names, the best was ‘Tabitha’, born circa 1960’s. I gave all Laura’s seventeen siblings kids and grandkids and I wrote them all down, complete with marriage dates I had invented along with the original real Ingalls dates of birth death and marriage.
My BEST FAMILY NAME IS MY GRANDMOTHER, CECELIA. She named my mother CELINE , a name she hated, but I love it! it’s beautiful.
Grandfather’s mother’s name was Susanna, and in the 1914 census, my great grandfather listed her as ‘Susie’, isn’t that unusual for that time?
Melissa said,
June 15, 2009 at 9:13 pm
According to the Little House books, Almanzo had an ancestor back in the time of the crusades whose life was saved by a Middle Eastern man named El Manzoor. In honor of him they named someone from each generation in the family after that with the name which was changed slightly to become Almanzo.