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Whitnah Family Heritage

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The Whitnah name is undoubtedly one of the most unique names in America. The first documented appearance of the name in this form comes in the 1805 and 1806 Berkeley County, Virginia tax lists where we find an entry for Henry Whitnah. We know that Henry himself went by the name of Whiteneck as shown by his signature on a document in 1818 shortly before his death. It was Henry's sons that universally settled on the Whitnah name.

Henry F. Whiteneck was the son of Johannes Whiteknaught (see Letter of Johannes Whiteknaught). In various documents of Berkeley County, Henry's name is listed with the following variations: Whiteneck (the most common), Whitneck, Whitenack, Whitenak, Whitenah, Whitenough, Whitenaugh, Whitnough, and Whitnah.

In the early 1800's, it was not uncommon for names to be spelled differently in different documents and from year-to-year. Variations in spelling likely came about as clerks and census-takers wrote names phonetically based on how the name was pronounced. Standardization in spelling was not as much an issue then as it is now, and spelling often changed as English-speaking children changed the spelling to reflect the change in pronunciation.

Assuming that the written records reflect how the name sounded, we find the following development of the name:

  • As early as 1783, Henry went by the name Whiteneck. I am assuming that this is the way he pronounced the name himself, as it is the most common form and is the spelling he used shortly before his death. From this I assume that the "ght" in the original Whitenaught has a "k" sound common in Germanic languages. I also assume that the original form of the name include had a long "i" sound as in white, as opposed to the short "i" sound used today (whit).
  • Starting in 1803 we find the "e" being dropped occasionally (Whitneck). As previously mentioned, we find Whitnah appearing in 1805 and 1806, with Whitenough and Whitenah appearing in 1816 and later.
  • By 1824, Henry had several sons living in New York who used the name Whitenah. By 1828 it became Whitnah for this branch of the family.
  • Following 1819, Henry's widow or estate continued to be listed as Whiteneck, while his son living on the property preferred Whitenah.

My own opinion is that the spelling of the name was different depending on the native language spoken by the tax collector and by who answered the door when he came. Henry possibly spoke Dutch or German in addition to English, while Henry's wife, Margaret, was of Scottish descent. Although Henry likely pronounced the name as White-neck, it is possible that his wife, and thereby his children, preferred Whit-naw. Today there are two variations in how the name is pronounced: wit-naw or wit-nuh, with the difference being largely geographical (western US and eastern US respectively).

From 1850 on, Whitnah is used exclusively by the descendants of Henry Whiteneck. Occassionally you'll find Whitenah, Whitney, or some other variations in some records, but I believe that these variations reflect the ignorance of those keeping the records and not in a preference by the family. To my knowledge, all living Whitnah's are direct descendants from Henry Whiteneck of Berkeley County, Virginia (see notes 2 and 3 below).

Notes:

1. Henry's father is likely the same Johannes Whiteknaught that was living in Somerset County, New Jersey. The relatives living in New Jersey adopted Whitenack as the family name. Henry may have used a different variation for the following reasons:

  • Henry apparently had a falling-out with his father. Perhaps he took a slightly different variation of the name to distance himself from his father.
  • A John Whiteneck was living in Maryland and owned property in Virginia. Perhaps Henry used Whiteneck to associate himself with this relative.
  • Another possibility is that Henry is not related to the Whitenack family of New Jersey, but is instead a cousin to Johannes Whiteknaught of New Jersey.

2. During the 1800's there are a few Whitnah's listed in various records that appear not to be descendants of Henry Whiteneck (see Missing Links). I believe they are likely descendants from one of Henry's brothers (who mostly went by the name of Whitenack). Quite possibly these cousins settled in areas where the Whitnah's lived, and took the Whitnah name to show their relation to the established family in the area. However, to my knowledge, no one today with the Whitnah surname comes from these families.

3. The name Whitnah also appears in the England Census from 1851 to 1901. However, I have not found a direct link between these Whitnah's and those living in the United States, and do not know if the name is still used today in that country (I doubt it).

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My thanks to the following sites for linking to the Whitnah Family Heritage site:


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