My Search Narrative

The Story of My Search Upon researching my name, I knew fragments of why I was given my name and what it meant. My middle name, Elizabeth, is my mother’s first name, my great- great grandmother’s middle name, my aunt’s middle name, and my first cousin’s middle name. I was aware that Claire means clear or bright and Elizabeth means consecrated to God, but I was unaware of anything beyond that. As part of a research project for class, we spent a few days in the library unearthing information about our names using books and internet sources. I explored my names extensively and discovered that there are countless compelling components and fathomless meanings behind my first, middle, and last names.

My Search Claire is derived from English and

The name Elizabeth has been in my family since the 1600’s with my eighth great- grandmother Elizabeth Wright, and I’m sure that it will continue to be passed down for generations to come. One notable famous person with the name Elizabeth is Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the II of England. Elizabeth is also a cape in Maine and a group of islands in Massachusetts, named in honor of Queen Elizabeth of England; a city in Union County, New Jersey, named for the wife of Lord Carteret; a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, named by the founder, Stephen Bayard, for his wife; and a town in Wirt County, West Virginia, named for Elizabeth, the wife of David Beauchamp (Place Names in the United States.). Elizabeth is an extremely popular name. 1,677,685 people have the name Elizabeth. The year 1910 marked the height of its popularity. Connecticut has the most people named Elizabeth. Mississippi currently has 12,784 people named Elizabeth (names.whitepages.com). I adore my middle name, and I am so thankful my parents chose the name Elizabeth because I feel that it blends well with both my first name, Claire and my last name, Wiygul.  Wiygul, my surname, has Slavic influence of the German name Weigel or Wiegel. I perused the internet for quite sometime, but I was unsuccessful in finding the meaning of Wiygul.

Though she claims that she still loves the name, she sometimes wishes she had named me Matilda and called me Mattie or Tilley. Matilda was my grandmother’s middle name, and my grandmother passed away three months after I was born. She hated the name ‘back then,’ but now it contains a special symbol of a special lady. My mother also loved the names Anna, Grace, and Paige. After completing the project, I have a new appreciation for research papers and documentation. I was able to unearth new and exciting meanings and information behind my names that I will remember forever. I am thankful for the names my parents chose for me, and I couldn’t imagine myself with any other name than Claire Elizabeth