Adolphus Lutz was born in North Carolina and was the grandson of John and Sallie Frye Lutz. By the time Dolph was of marrying age, the Lutz family lived in Missouri. There he married Missouri-born Lucretia Boydston. I am curious about their given names.
According to Behind the Name, Adolphus is the Latinized form of the Germanic Adolf. Dolph's ancestry was indeed German, but why did his parents use the Latin version? It was most popular in 1893 when it ranked 330 in popularity. Dolph was 40 years old at this time.
Likewise, the name Lucretia is ancient Roman in origin. It was most popular in America in 1882 when it ranked at 205; Lucretia was 19 years old.
So both of these individuals were born before their names were trendy. Perhaps their parents helped to set the trend. Research has found that during the time these two were born, Americans were fascinated by ancient Rome. Classical style and philosophy seeped into their culture, and therefore their naming traditions.
Historically, Lucretia was a legendary ancient Roman woman whose tragic fate set in motion a revolution that removed the Roman monarchy sometime in the 500s BC and replaced it with a republic. Lucretia was ever after honored for her sacrifice.
As for Dolph, perhaps his parents wished to bestow a name reminiscent of his German culture. Adolf means noble wolf and was borne by several Swedish kings. Latinizing the name brought it to current cultural standards.
It will be interesting to notice how many other names in the family history were influenced by Roman Classical interest.
John and Sallie Frye Lutz, mentioned at the top of this post, are my husband's 3rd great grandparents.
