It was weirder than von or de

Truth is stranger than logic!

I’ve always been fascinated by the name Daniel of St Thomas Jenifer, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. I always ass-u-me-d that the of was an indicator of nobility, like French de or German von or Irish o or Scottish mac.

I further ass-u-me-d there was a parish in England named after Thomas Jenifer, who must have been a saint. [In other words, I was thinking like ChatGPT.]

Finally looked it up. All wrong!

Jenifer was simply the surname. Daniel of St Thomas was a favorite first name in the family, for reasons unknown to historians.

Daniel of St Thomas had a brother named just plain Daniel. Just plain Daniel continued the weird tradition, naming his two sons Daniel of St Thomas and just plain Daniel.

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Later: I should have waited a couple days. March 4 is Fun Facts About Names Day!