Wait, Waite, Waitte: Family Naming Traditions

Wait, Waite, Waitte: Family Naming Traditions

I discovered much too late that there was a family naming pattern in my father’s family. Grandfather to grandson the name was handed down. Before we had a naming standard we had each generation’s best guess as to how they wanted to spell the name Wait, Waite or Waitte.

The progenitor of the name was this man, Wait Scott, born 4 Feb 1805, Fletcher, Chittenden County, Vermont; died 13 February 1859, Cumberland County, Tennessee. He was the father of five sons, the last being Merton Bullard Scott, born 15 Jun 1853, Cambridge, Lamoille County, Vermont; died 5 Jan 1944, Denver, Colorado. None of the sons were given this unusual name.

Merton Scott’s first child, a son, was Edward Waite “Ed” Scott, born 1 Jun 1880, Devizes, Norton County, Kansas; died18 Nov 1973, Burlington, Kit Carson County, Colorado. Edward was the father of seven children. None were given the name, Waite.

One of Edward’s children was Thelma Ellen Scott, born 10 Oct 1909, Red Cloud, Webster County, Nebraska; died from tuberculosis 20 Nov 1944, Denver, Colorado. She had an identical twin sister, Elma Helen Scott. The sisters were pregnant at the same time so they decided that Thelma would give the middle name of Waite to her son and Elma would give the first name of Edward to her son.

Thelma’s son, Leon Waitte was born 15 Jan 1929, Stratton, Kit Carson County, Colorado. Leon did not give his son the name, and his son did not pass on the name of Wait in any form either.  Perhaps now knowing this we can get that name back in the family line. You get to pick the spelling you want, after all, that’s what they did!

As you might guess, this posting is cousin bait, and to ensure that my family recognizes the importance of the name in our family.