Unionist Naming of Mississippi Children

"In 2010, I published on Renegade South a study of the naming of white male Mississippi children during the period from 1861 through 1880, wondering if certain names might provide evidence of Civil War or post-Civil War Unionist sentiments.  Hundreds of African-American sons born during this period were given names reflective of the Union trinity of Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and William Tecumseh Sherman.  As might be expected, similar naming among white Mississippians was rare.  My initial inquiry produced a list of 54 persons.

After posting those results, I came across several more names, all associated with Ulysses S. Grant.  Why had these individuals been missed?  The answer lay in my failure to consider the many spelling permutations possible for ‘Ulysses.’  Parents and census enumerators proved highly inventive in rendering the name as Ulepes, Ulissus, Euilas, etc.  So..."

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