Chataranice (Wollard) Benjamin - What kind of name is Chataranice ?

Tagging Jerry Dorber

West Virginia and Shenandoah Valley genealogists especially welcome: Jerry's in England.

Private User I wonder if you wouldn't mind trying out your etymological skills on this name.

The area & time we know she lived in had emigrants from Germany (Palantine and elsewhere) (known as Pennsylvania Dutch for port of arrival); Switzerland (Mennonites); Moravian missionaries (often Swiss); Scotch Irish & English.

Either of her parents could have been either or none of the above.

And google only knows her only with this name.

Chatar (ina) + nice, no meaning at all other than a possible wordplay. The same logic goes for explaining her sisters name, Magadenia, = Magdalena, they could have been illiterate, but I don't think so. Some groups still today want to have a unique name for some of their children, transforming a common name slightly and voilà. This are two example of invented names that are not widely spread or in normal use in any specific location or country.

I was thinking of bad handwriting / terrible transcription. He signed with a seal. It might to be good to try and locate the original document / scan, and also compare with other wills of time & place. I found the religious sentiment expressed at the top of the will extravagant, I'm used to plainer language e.g. I ask a decent Christian burial; instead he goes on about the resurrection.

http://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Minnesota/Magadenia-Schule_...

Born in Germany ...

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/i/l/Steve-Miller-PA/WEBSITE-0001/UHP...

Magadenia (Wamser)2, 2, 2 was born 1695 in Rhineland, Palatinate, Germany ...

http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/magdalania-wyss_495272

Magdalania Wyss Born in Boltigen, Bern, Switzerland in 1845 ....

The unusual names doesn't prove that any of those children's parents was from any certain country, especially if they lived in an area with immigrants from Europe, then they might have been influenced by them when it came to the name givings, but my humble guess are that both parents had an English descent, but they, in turn, may very well have made a stopover in another European country before they went over, who knows?

I'm agreeing with you that Chataranice is an invented name (or nickname). Magdalania has a feel for being a family repeated name.