During our recent weekly free Zoom meeting, I asked the question, “why are so many men named Sheldon as their first name?”

After some discussion, the simple answer was “we don’t know.”

So I compose these words with the hope that it stimulates someone, somewhere, and somehow, to answer the question.  But, of course, it’s time to spin some interesting babble into this post.

Probably the most famous first name Sheldon is an actor named Sheldon Leonard.  Early in his career, he was typecast as a “heavy” and often played a gangster, gambler, bartender, or some other shady character from the seedy side of town.  His real name was Sheldon Leonard Bershad. He was born on February 22, 1907, in Manhattan to Jewish parents.

Sheldon Leonard

For about 10 years, he appeared on the Jack Benny Show (first radio, then on TV).  He was always stopping Jack and telling him what the best bet was on trains, elevators, or horses.  (There is a YouTube video of the zany character available – it’s above and Sheldon Leonard shows up about 1;25 into the video).

Sheldon Leonard went on to do much more than just play the part of a heavy in small supporting roles.  He became a producer and director.  One of the biggest shows he created was the Dick Van Dyke Show.  He is the one that chose Mary Tyler Moore and launched her carer.  And there were many other shows, too,  like the Danny Thomas Show, I Spy, and Andy Griffth Show.  Not bad for a fellow named Sheldon (as his first name).

And he was forever mortalized when the creator of The Big Band Theory decided to name the two main characters of that Sitcom in honor of Sheldon Leonard.  Dr. Sheldon Cooper and Dr. Leonard Hopstetter are now a part of our pop culture.

So I think it is fair to say that the parents of Sheldon Leonard Bershad started a trend.  And for some reason, they chose to name their son Sheldon, which does seem popular to some of those of Jewish descent.  So why did they choose the name of a hamlet in the UK? The mystery continues.

So far, we don’t know of any woman with the given first name of Sheldon.

There certainly are athletes with the name Sheldon.  There is  Sheldon Rankins, Sheldon Richardson, Sheldon Brown, and Sheldon Day.

From the OhBabyNames website, they say this about Sheldon:

Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Sheldon
Sheldon is the transferred use of an English surname into a masculine personal name. The surname finds its origins in several towns so called Sheldon in Derbyshire, Devon and Warwickshire, England; such location-based surnames were given to men who hailed from one of these towns and then relocated elsewhere – it was used as a means of identification. In other words, a man residing in London called Robert Sheldon would be known as the Robert whose birthplace was Sheldon. Sheldon means “steep-sided valley,” derived from the Olde English elements “scylf” (a shelf or slope) and “denu” (a valley). Such a place name would have been used to describe the area upon which a settlement was built; in this case, a valley with steep sides. The surname appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 rendered as Sildened, later evolving into Sheldon by the 16th century. As a masculine forename, Sheldon, like many surnames-turned-first-names, came into use in the 19th century.  (Source: https://ohbabynames.com/all-baby-names/sheldon/)

Perhaps there ought to be a law about naming a son with the first name Sheldon.  I’d suggest we ask the U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, the Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse.

So what do you think?  Did the trend of naming a son with the first name Sheldon being with Sheldon Leonard?  Or do you think it is just that a lot of people wished they were born a Sheldon, and since they were;t, they used it as a first name?

It seems like there could be more to the Sheldon Duck story than we have not heard before.  There is folklore about the feathered fowl.

The Sheldon Duck – in 1610, so legend has it, a group of Sheldon villagers watched a duck fly into an ash tree. They were baffled however, as they never saw the duck come out again. Thereafter, the tree became known as ‘The Duck Tree’. Nearly 3 centuries later, when the tree was felled and split up into planks in a timber yard in Ashford, the image of a ‘duck-sized’ pattern was found in the grain of the two middle planks, with markings where the brain and lungs would have been. Thus was born the legend of ‘The Sheldon Duck’. The two boards were on display in Ashford Post Office for a while, and postcards showing an image of the duck used to be sold. However, this was not to last, as the timber merchant who felled the tree liked the pieces of wood so much that he used them for making a mantlepiece at his home.

Source: Genuki – https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/Sheldon/#Folklore

Now you know the legend of the Sheldon Duck, and why Sheldon Genealogy has a duck on its logo. and there are duck feet throughout the website.  If we place all of us in a large carton, we could easily be known as a box of quackers, I suppose.

Remember the TV Show Friends?

It was the NBC weekly comedy centered around six friends. They often were seen in the nearby coffee shop known as Central Perk.  At the time, the show was also known for the folk song that Phoebe sang called “Smelly Cat.”

The show lasted ten seasons. It finally hit the number one spot in its eighth season.

And even though we never got to see what they were actually feeding the smelly cat, we did watch the on-again, off-again relationship of Rachel and Ross finally result in the birth of their daughter, Emma.

And now, here is the Sheldon connection.  There were two twins that played the part of Emma. As is so often the case in TV productions where young children are needed, twins are cast because of the long days and work schedules.  So the producers hire two one-year-old twins, Noelle and Cali.

The thing is, they are Sheldons. Yes, Emma was portrayed by Noelle and Cali Sheldon.

Here is an image from Instagram of the twin sisters today:

The story of Noelle and Cali Sheldon is enough to make you want to dance around a fountain and sing, I’ll Be There for You,  originally performed at the opening of each episode of Friends by The Rembrandts.

Our contributor, Jan Barrett, has sent us this information for this post. Her Sheldon ancestors’ roots are from Leeds, Ontario, Canada.  She has located the Sheldon’s Cemetery there, and reports:

“The gravestone for Samuel Sheldon, my great-great-grandfather has toppled over. I am working on finding out how I can have it repaired and cleaned”

Jan tells us, “The other Sheldon gravestone is for Jeremiah, the brother of my fourth great-great-grandfather, another Samuel.”

Jan has been providing information about her Sheldon line, and her contributions have already made it into our Sheldon Family Tree.

“Samuel and Jeremiah went to Canada in about 1795 from Vermont,” says Jan.

Most interestingly, she added that “I have been told by the local historical museum director that the dates on Mother Barnes gravestone are incorrect, and she is not actually buried there!”

Special thanks to Jan for all the information she has been giving us on her Sheldons in Canada.

During the Revolution, Sheldon’s participated in the defense of Rhode Island against the British.  The Battle of Rhode Island occurred on August 29, 1778. Under the command of General John Sullivan, the Continental Army and militia forces had been blockading the British forces in Newport,  which is situated on Aquidneck Island.

The British were eventually able to take the island, but the battle is notable to historians as it was the first time in America that the 1st Rhode Island Regiment were called into battle.  That regiment consisted of American Indians, Africans, and white colonists.

And the were Sheldons defending Rhode Island.  We have added a document to our Sheldon Library. Revolutionary Defences in Rhode Island.  The link is here.  You will find Sheldons in the document, as well as one Shelden.

Sheldon is a small city in southern Vernon County, Missouri. During the last census, the population was determined to be just 543 people living there.+

Main Street of Sheldon MO (from an antique post card))

Sheldon was formed in 1881 when the railroad was extended to that point within the rural county. 

Most interestingly, the city was not named for a man with the surname Sheldon.  Instead, this town was named for Mr. Wright (or Wight), who just happened to have the first name of Sheldon.  As the owner of the land where the town was established, the new city was called Sheldon.  In 1881, a post office opened and has been in operation at Sheldon ever since.

Sheldon is located in south-central Vernon County, just one mile north of the Vernon-Barton county line. But what happened on the other side of the county line a dozen years earlier makes the area most remarkable.

America’s Most Famous U.S. Deputy Marshall

Wyatt Earp, at about age 21 – when he had married his first wife.

Of course, that’s Wyatt Earp, but before he headed west, he married Urilla Sutherland. 

Urilla Earp

This was his first wife, who he married in Barton County, Missouri, just a stone’s throw away from Sheldon, Missouri.  Not much is known about Urilla, as Wyatt never talked about her, but her grave can be found, and it has a marker.  It is believed that she died during childbirth.  Follow this link to Find-a-Grave to learn more about Urilla Earp.

Wyatt took off following the death, only to be later immortalized by his role in the gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, which occurred in 1881, the same year Sheldon Missouri was established. Most likely, Wyatt Earp never returned to the area, visited his first wife’s grave, and never saw the city of Sheldon.  

About Ellis Island

Although we as Sheldons often refer to our lineage as one of the Colonial Progenitors, there is certainly evidence that there were Sheldons at Ellis Island.

Ellis Island is a federally owned island in the New York Harbor. It was at one time the busiest immigrant inspection station in the United States.

From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived there. Known as the Port of New York and New Jersey, these people were processed there under U.S. federal law. From there, they traveled to their final destination where they would begin their new life in America.

New York and New Jersey both claimed the island was within their respective borders. In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled in New Jersey v. New York. The court settled the matter by finding that roughly 83% of Ellis Island was part of New Jersey, rather than in New York.

The island is where the Statue of Liberty National Monument is located. It is accessible to the public only by ferry.

The Ellis Island Museum

The island is administered by the National Park Service. The Ellis Island Immigration Museum opened on September 10, 1990.  One of the most famous immigrants to pass through Ellis Island was Bob Hope, and the library was renamed in his honor in 2008.

There are 65 million records of those that passed through the island. And these records are online.

Sheldons at Ellis Island

The online passenger search records show there were 3849 Sheldons that passed through the Island, and an additional 226 Sheldens. You can do a free search by going to this URL:  Ellis Island Passenger Search

In addition to searching by name, you can also search by Ship.