Message: "Re: Trying to find out the meaning of the name Lurany or Lurana"

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[Facts] Re: Trying to find out the meaning of the name Lurany or Lurana

by Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans)

10/3/2010, 7:22 AM

This is extremely unlikely to be a name from the Cherokee language. The name was in use in most parts of the USA before 1800 and doesn't seem to be especially associated with the states where Cherokees lived.

The earliest example I have found in online genealogy records so far is Lurana Barron, who married John Jones in Talbot County, Maryland on August 15, 1741. There are examples in New England by 1748.

The 1740s examples all seem to be Lurana, with the earliest examples of Lurany appearing in the 1770s. So Lurana would seem to be the original form and Lurany its derivative.

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- Lee Allison (guest)

7/27/2017, 9:27 AM

I have a relative from North Carolina (b. 1816) with Lurana as a middle name. Her parents were from NC and their parents from VA. I don't think it's an exclusive Yankee name.

- MsLafate (guest) +2

10/3/2010, 6:40 PM

Thanks for that info, but this woman was in fact Cherokee, from family historian including documentation and photographs.

Any idea the meaning of the name?

- thegriffon

10/15/2021, 4:51 PM

If you look at the registration lists for Cherokee, you will hard pressed to find a single Cherokee name. Even if the family used one, it would probably not be officially recorded. It may sound exotic and she may be Cherokee, but it seems it's not so exotic after all, just another name in circulation in the broader community at the time.

- Cleveland Kent Evans (clevelandkentevans)

10/3/2010, 7:27 PM

I am sure she was Cherokee, but that doesn't mean her name was from the Cherokee language. :)

No idea as to the further derivation of Lurana. It may simply be an early example of a name invented by someone because they thought it sounded nice.

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