There are some great similarities between Hobbits and SCA members. No really! Most of us, if not all, started in a shire. Perhaps you started your SCA career in a household, but that household was probably part of a shire as well.

Let’s take a closer look at those excellent Hobbits and some of their family names. So many of us enjoyed Tolkien’s books so why not try to find out if you can use an awesome Hobbit name for your persona?

1: Cotton. Who doesn’t remember Rosie Cotton, Samwise’s love interest? A Rosa Cotton gets married to her beau Thomas Bloore in 1571. The event took place at St. Michael’s Church in Stone, Staffordshire. Here we have the link to Family Search: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLQ8-8JYG?lang=en . I highly recommend getting your hands at the original church entry via FindMyPast.

To give you the male equivalent, I found an entry from 5 July 1626, which is a bit too late for the SCA but hear me out. In the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom a boy named Henrick Geertssen is baptised. His parents are Timothe Geertssen and Gertruyd Jans. One of the witnesses to the baptism is Henrick Cotton.

2: Boffin. If you are interested in a French (and hobbit!) persona, then perhaps the name Boffin is something for you. On the 29th of May 1590, a little girl named Jeanne Boffin is baptised in the French city of Lille. Her mother is Katherine and her father is Thomas.

3. Bracegirdle. Although I couldn’t download the actual record, I have found the baptism of Jane Bracegirdle in Rostherne, Cheshire, England in the year 1596. Her father is John Bracegirdle. Here is the link for you: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQC9-XH8?lang=en

4. Took. On 4 February 1586 bride Elizabeth Took gets married to Thomas Wilke, in Skidbrooke, Lincolnshire, England. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPC8-H89Z?lang=en

Again, I can’t stress this enough, please make sure you get in touch with the archives where these documents can be found to get a digital copy. It makes name research so much more fun!