VAUGHAN, ETC N EW S L E T T ER
JANUARY & APRIL 1984
EDITOR; Verna Baker Banes
Page 8
VOL. II, #2. April 1984
EDITOR: Verna Baker Banes P,(L Box 7435, Huntsv111e, TX 77340
GRATEFUL THANKS TO;
--Those who donated $5 to help with printing and mailing costs. Hopefully, we will •break even this
year. A very special thanks to those who donated in the name of a relative or friend. A note was sent
to recipients of your gift subscription
--Those who sent us names of prospective readers or otherwise recommended the NEWSLETTER to
a friend or wrote a review for your local publication.
--To these newspapers for printing information abou. the NEWSLETTER;
THE BIRMINGHAM, AL NEWS THE OKLAHOMA CITY, OK TIMES
JACKSONVILLE, TX DAILY PROGRESS THE CEDAR POST, CEDAR PARK, TX
Were there others that we did not know about?
ORIGIN OF THE NAME VAUGHAN
Research on the name VAUGHAN was interesting, particularly as exact opposite meanings of the word
were found. Author Reanery, in the book The Growth of Family Names said that Vaughan comes from
VACHANN (mutation of the Welsh 'bychan" meaning small, little). This same meaning is given in the
books, The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames by Cottle and The Surnames of the United Kingdom
But others say differently. Dellguest in These Names of Ours says it means "big, large" originally a
nickname to designate an extraordinarily large person This author also states that Vaughan corresponds
with the Irish •Moore."
Charles B, Vaughan sent a copy of the Introduction to the book Reminiscenses and Genealogical Record
of the Vaughan Family written in 1886 by George E. Hodgdon. Quotes from that are: "The family of
Vaughan, or Vychan as it was originally written, is one of the oldest in the British Isles. Skilled
genealogists in the family have traced their lineage to a Welsh Knight, of the famous 'Round Table' in
the mythic times of 'King Arthur' and have clearly established their line of descent from the ancient kings
of Wales, Although the American Vaughan, owing to the lapse of so many generations since the emigration
of his ancestors, may be unable to discover the connecting links between them and their British progenitors, nevertheless it may be assumed with almost certainty that all of the name are descended from a common
ancestry who dwelt ages ago in Western Britain. Among the earliest settlers in nearly all of the English
colonies on our Atlantic Coast can be found the name of Vaughan, from whom have sprung numerous
branches of the family in this country,"
It would seem, then, the VAUGHN spelling is mainly an American version, probably brought about by
personal preference or transcription errors* I have found both spellings designating the same person.
Others have mentioned that a'particular family member changed the spelling for some personal reason.
Other variations of the name may be Vaught, Vaus, Van, Vaugh. Do you know others?
-8-