I have found an example where Jos. stands for Joshua.  I have also seen
Jon. used as the abbreviation of Jonathan.  Always look for a period
after the abbreviation Eliza.  If it is there, the name should be
Elizabeth.  If it is not there, the name may simply be Eliza.

Louise Jones

-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Thelma Glover
Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 2:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Given Name Abbreviations

The problem I've occasionally encountered is the interpretation of Jas
and 
Jos. They look amazingly alike when handwritten and I've often found Jos

transcribed as Jas or James and Jas transcribed as Jos or Joseph.

Nel Hatcher

To me this is an excellent reason to transcribe the original doc
verbatim 
and not guess at the intent of the scribe. If looking at an abstract,
better 
find a copy of the original instead of trying to guess at the intent.

I spent some time trying to find a parent of my 4th ggrandmother whose 
father's name appeared in a Goodpature's History as John Stroud.
Actually, 
her father's name was Joseph Stroud as my research proved. My guess is
the 
info gatherer for Goodspeed's books abbreviated Joseph in such a way
that it 
was transcribed as John and since it appeared as John in a "real" book,
hard 
cover, and all, we know his name forever more will be John no matter the

name his mother gave him. 

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