Wyatt Earp had an uncle named James O'Kelley. Earp. How did he come to have such an unusual middle name?

With no offense to you, Wyatt, or James, it's not at all unusual for an Irish name to have begun with an O. Many who came here dropped it though.


What I think is even more odd is that you didn't say that you considered "Earp" an unusual name.

Wyatt Earp had an uncle named James O'Kelley. Earp. How did he come to have such an unusual middle name?
Using a mother's maiden name or a grandmother's maiden name as a middle name was quite common back then. In the 1700's, before middle names were much in use, a lot of kids got stuck with maiden names as first names; I have a Palmer Cady in my line, whose mother was a Palmer.
Reply:Anyone gets their middle (or first) names exactly as we still do... a choice of the parents. As already mentioned, using a family last name as part of a child's name was extremely common in the 1800's. Experienced genealogists look for that, as a possible clue to an earlier ancestor. Frequently, it can be the mother's maiden name, but not always. It could be passed down in the family.


Even though common, this is not a guarantee. Many people gave their children the names of a respected friend, or even a popular politician of the era.


And I was just recently working with some Earp descendents, related to Wyatt, but who wound up in Texas.
Reply:Most of the family's stated middle or nicknames were just an easy version of their first nameor a mothers maiden name.





since Wyatt had an older brother James, this stated "O'kelly" was not a middle name either but probably a way to distinguish the difference between James the brother and James the Uncle. Most likely playing off his mothers maiden name.
Reply:People often changed their names at Ellis Island -- or had them changed for them. I'm assuming the O'Kelly family was Irish so I'm thinking that when Wyatt's dad got off the boat he was drunk; when they asked him his name the only thing that came out was "earp!"