Genealogy Chat

I have found a relative mentioned in a will and his first name is Jas. Does anyone know if this is a proper name or a shortened version?

James. Dea x

Jas is for James Chas is for Charles

I have a Jas as well, and he was really a James. PS Someone else has suggested Jason, too.

Jas = James Jos = Joseph Thos = Thomas Chas = Charles Robt = Robert Wm = William

I've also seen Rd = Richard

I thought it was short for Jasper originally but have since found it to be James Caroline

Jno = John Hy = Henry Anne

Caroline Jasper is an unusual name and is normally written in full. Standard abbreviations apply only to common CHRISTIAN names (i.e. names approved by the Established Church, usually those which can be found in the New Testament, with names of Monarchs grudgingly also approved by the Church. Some old Testament names were approved by the more liberal Clergy in the C of E, but generally, if its an Old Testament name, I start looking for Nonconformists.) OC

Thankyou everyone for your replies. I think it must be James as there is one in my family. The shortened versions of some names dont seem to make sense do they. I expect this can sometimes make tracing your family difficult.

Anyone know what Jin might be short for?! (Male)

Rebekah If you found this in a Parish Register, could it be J'n? If so, its either John or Jonathan, but they should have been written Jno (John) Jono,Jona (Jonathan. Didnt make it easy, did they? OC

Are some of the standard abbreviations derived from the Latin spellings? (Does anyone know?) Otherwise abbreviating John seems hardly worth bothering (to Jno), but if you were abbreviating Johannes that would seen a saving on ink! I know these churchmen liked to show off their Latin knowledge and would also write cryptic notes in the register in Latin, knowing non of the hoi-polloi would be able to read it! Merry

Yes Merry, you are right - standard abbreviations were culled from the Latin, at a time when pen, ink and paper were in short supply!! Jno (for John~) is written in the very early registers as Jn - and then a tiny little 'o' up in the air - sometimes looks like a full stop, depending how crabbed the Vicar's writing was. Jas comes from the Latin JAcobuS Jos from JOSephus (Joseph) - also sometimes written Jospeh - no, this is not a mistranscription, but a complete mystery as to why they did this! Ralph/Rad - from Radolphus Rand/Randalph - from Randolphus I think the rest are self explanatory. Josh - an attempt to distinguish Joshua (which doesnt have a Latin equivalent, as far as I know?) (Sorry, cant get rid of that huge gap for some reason!) OC

Have read all replies here and yet my"Jas"turns out to be a"Joseph"as shown here below:
1)
Name: Hannah Buckley
Gender: Female
Event Type: Baptism
Birth Date: 28 May 1797
Baptism Date: 25 Jun
Baptism Place: Rowde, Wiltshire, England
Father: Jas Buckley
Mother: Mary Buckley
2)
Name: Hannah Buckley
Gender: Female
Christening Age: 0
Birth Date: 28 May 1797
Christening Date: 25 Jun 1797
Christening Place: Rowde, Wiltshire, England
Phillimore Ecclesiastical Parish Map:
View this parish
Father: Joseph Buckley
Mother: Mary Buckley

Welcome to the boards, Paul.

(This is a very old thread - 2006 - but your answer is none the less valid!)

It could just be a mistranscription, if the handwriting on the original was difficult to decipher.

EDIT:
Yes, I've looked at it now, and the original is clearly Jos - so the transcriber misread it.