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Help[Facts] Re: A historical name
in reply to a message by Siraskelseyo
The fur trader was Jedediah Smith, NOT Jebediah Smith. Jedediah would simply be a variant spelling, deliberate or accidental, of the Old Testament name Jedidiah.
The form Jebediah has turned up on occasion in the USA since the Civil War. It is a name that blends Jeb with Jedidiah. Jeb is originally a nickname for the Confederate general Jeb Stuart, who was born James Ewell Brown Stuart. This is one of the first examples of a nickname being created from initials. Because of Stuart's fame, Jeb began to be used as a given name in the Southern USA, and some parents then expanded it to Jebediah, probably simply misremembering or mishearing the Biblical name Jedidiah, which had Jed as a common short form. This is one of the few examples where a blended name probably did come about "accidentally" through ignorance rather than being a deliberate creation.
The form Jebediah has turned up on occasion in the USA since the Civil War. It is a name that blends Jeb with Jedidiah. Jeb is originally a nickname for the Confederate general Jeb Stuart, who was born James Ewell Brown Stuart. This is one of the first examples of a nickname being created from initials. Because of Stuart's fame, Jeb began to be used as a given name in the Southern USA, and some parents then expanded it to Jebediah, probably simply misremembering or mishearing the Biblical name Jedidiah, which had Jed as a common short form. This is one of the few examples where a blended name probably did come about "accidentally" through ignorance rather than being a deliberate creation.
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