Could Kezia have been a nickname for Elizabeth?

Question

I know that there are all kinds of nickname our ancestors used... just wondering if it was possible for a Kezia to have been an Elizabeth?

Answer 1

I have never seen it used as a nickname for Elizabeth. It was a common proper name for female children at one time. It's a biblical name, one of Job's daughters.

Comments

I also understand it to be a distinct name.

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Sounds unlikely as a nickname. Have you checked whether she may actually have been baptised with two names?

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Agreed. I too have never seen it used as any nickname. It ha always been used as a name in its own right. I have 2 Kezia's on the fringes of my family tree...

Answer 2

I doubt it was a nickname, but I could squint and look sideways and see it as being misspelled. If you shorten Elizabeth to Eliza and compare it to Kezia, they're not that far apart. Don't know how many times I've come across Census data that was either written poorly or transcribed poorly and the result was something close to the name, but not accurate. Plus on some of the Censuses, the taker asked them to speak the names, and then the taker wrote it down how they heard it - and there were occasions where they did not verify before they put it in the books.

Answer 3

In several of the Southern families I follow, Kezia or Keziah is not an uncommon name.  Kizzie is often found as a nickname for Kezia.