Dear genealogical colleagues, I wrote a very short paper last year on the 19th-century literary names Ahab and Ishmael in early Massachusetts, based on vital records and other genealogical sources. If you're interested in historical naming patterns, on in unusual applications of genealogical resources, you can download the paper here (just click the "Open PDF in Browser" or "Download this Paper" link): https://ssrn.com/abstract=2519287 Some earlier commentators on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851) suggested that these two names, which Melville gives to his principal characters, didn't occur in the Nantucket vital records. In fact, there are two recorded Ishmaels on Nantucket; and while it's true Ahab doesn't occur there, that name was used several times in southeastern Massachusetts and adjacent Rhode Island. (The Rhode Island occurrences merit further study.) I think this is a nice little example of how genealogical data can be used to understand history and literature. I hope some people may find it of interest. Bob O'Hara Fitchburg, Mass.