1921 census extract showing Robert Baden-Powell and his wife Olave [Pax Hill, Bentley, Hampshire]
Have you come across a forename in your family history, which is obviously a surname? And perhaps a famous one at that? With the development of the media and ease of newspaper access in the 19th century, the phenomenon of naming children after influential individuals or events became increasingly common by the end of the century. A good example of this is the name 'Baden.' Birth indexes of General Registration show a grand total of just ten babies who were given the forename Baden in the period 1837-1898. Baden is more commonly found as a surname with origins in various locations of the same, or similar, spellings, and it is likely that these children were given the name in this period in commemoration of the surname either in honour of a branch of the family which bore this name, or perhaps a godparent or other significant individual of this name.
However, a signifiant change occurs from 1899, when birth records of General Registration show many children being given Baden as a forename, or sometimes Baden Powell as two forenames. In 1899 ten children were given the name Baden (five of which also had Powell as a middle name). However, the year 1900 saw a huge increase in children named Baden - a total of 5,578 [according to the birth indexes of Ancestry, or 5,569 according to Findmypast]. The year 1901 saw 895 births of baby Badens, and this slowly petered out until after 1910 a handful of Badens were born each year.
But why the interest? This was due to the Siege of Mafeking, as part of the Second Boer War taking place in South Africa. The press widely reported what happened there, as the son of then Prime Minister Robert Cecil, was then at Mafeking, as was Winston Churchill's aunt. As such, it loomed large in the public consciousness, and made the the military commander overseeing the Siege, and ultimate 'Relief of Mafeking' a national hero. The Siege and ultimate Relief took place from October 1899 to May 1900, and the impact it had nationally can clearly be seen in the number of children named in honour of Robert Baden-Powell.
In fact, it wasn't just Baden-Powell's name which was commemorated by parents in the years after 1899 - the town in South Africa of Mafeking was also given as a forename to over 600 children, such as young Mafeking Collins who was present in the 1911 census alongside his parents Frederick (a house painter) and Mary Ann.
So you have have unusual forename if your family tree, consider the origins and what national events were underway at the time that could have inspired it!
