Naming conventions varied from tribe to tribe and it is not possible to recap them all. The best source for information about naming within each tribe is the tribe's website or other material published by Natives or with the approval of the tribe. We can only generalize here. Some tribes allowed a person to keep their name throughout their life, Tecumseh of the Shawnee is one such example. Other tribes gave a person a name as a child, and the name was changed when he or she became an adult. Other life changing events could include seeing a vision or embarking on a career as a prophet (Lalekawitha/Tenskwatawa of the Shawnee) or becoming a warrior (Junaluska of the Cherokee). Still other Natives used English or French names, either as a result of being baptized (Joseph and Mary Brant of the Mohawk), honoring a White friend or benefactor (Logan of the Mingo), or an acknowledged parent or step-parent (Alexander McGillivray of the Muscogee/Creek). Some people used variants of English names translated or adapted into their language, Catherine became Kateri in many Iroquois dialects. Then there were titles such as Half King, Massassoit, Teyoninhokawaran, or Tustenegge Thlocco, and, of course, Osceola. While some of these titles have been used as the name of the person involved, they in fact reflected their position within the tribe. Confusion on this point often leads to confusion about which Individual is meant, such as the Iroquoian men who bore the title Half-King.
Osceola is a prime example. To any Floridian, and to any student or alumnus of FSU, he is "Chief" Osceola, no questions asked or tolerated. As we've discussed, he wasn't a chief, and his real name is lost to history. The Seminole Tribe of Florida gives his name as William Powell, not Billy, but no birth records survive, so we can only surmise if Osceola himself used the name. Whites used the name Powell in referring to him, so he either used it as a convenient identification in dealing with Whites or allowed them to use it. However, we do know from both his friend, John Graham, as well as Frederick Weedon and George Catlin that Osceola self-identified by referring to himself in third person as Osceola. Osceola is a title connected with a role in the annual Green Corn Dance performed by many Muskogean and other tribes of the Southeast. It isn't a personal name. Did Billy Powell have an "Indian name", that friends or family knew but now is lost to us? We'll never know. Likewise, Talisi Tustenegge is a legendary name applied to him afterwards, to indicate that he was a renowned warrior from the town of Talisi, in Alabama. By the way, there is no evidence for other fanciful names such as Rising Sun, Red Fawn, and the like. Osceola himself preferred to be called by his title, Osceola, and likely considered his personal name nobody's business but his own.
Another person who maintained her Native name was Eunice Williams, a 17th century preacher's daughter from Deerfield, Massachusetts. When she was captured and initially adopted by the Mohawk, she was given a name meaning "planted as a person". This symbolized that to her adopted family, Eunice was given to them in place of a daughter they'd lost in a smallpox epidemic. Later, as an adult, she was given an adult name as well as a baptismal name, Marguerite, which she preferred. Her husband, likewise, was Francois Xavier Arosen, using his baptismal name and keeping his native name as a surname (something many Natives have done over the centuries). Eunice preferred the name Marguerite Arosen, showing her chosen identities as a Mohawk, a Catholic as opposed to Puritan, and her status as a wife to Francois and mother of his children.
Ask any school child the name of one of the three Native men who helped the Pilgrims and you may get the answer Massassoit. As far as anyone knows, this was his real name. Not so. Massassoit is a title which means Great Sachem, as he was the Great Sachem of the Wampanoag. His personal name was Ousamequin. The name has been recorded, so he was comfortable telling Whites, including his friend Edward Winslow, what his personal name was. It appears, though, that to his face in and in reference, people called him by his title, Massassoit, and the title has stuck as his name. He gave Native names to his children, Wamsutta and Metacom, whom he allowed to have the Christian names of Alexander and Phillip. They were Kings only in the sense that Europeans understood chiefs or sachems to have kingly authority, hence heir more common names King Alexander and King Phillip, classical allusions to Alexander the Great and his father, Phillip of Macedon.
Other examples in this blog include, Blacksnake of the Seneca, Red Jacket of the Seneca, Spemica Lawba of the Shawnee, etc.
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