> Notice the use of the names "Rick" and "Dick". These > are of course well > known nicknames for "Richard". It seems unusual that > such nicknames were > used in that time period. What makes it especially > interesting is that > they are used in place of the more common formal > name. Even today, we > use the given name instead of nicknames on > official/formal documents. > This shows a degree of informality very rarely > seen for the time, even > until well into the 20th century. Any one have some > insight on this? Richard: Since the Deckers were Dutch, the Dutch form of Richard is Derrick; this may have been written as Rick or Dick by English authorities. I have come across many instances in my Bird research of the same man being called Derrick in one document and Richard in another. Judy ===== Judy Jamieson Pisano jupisano@yahoo.com "The Bird Families of New Jersey" <http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~birdnj> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com/