Baby named Santa found in Scotland's history books

Researchers at National Records of Scotland have uncovered a real-life ‘Baby Santa’ while digging through historic records in the run-up to Christmas.

Santa Bianchi, a baby girl born in Glasgow in 1901, has topped a festive “nice list” of Christmassy names found in official Scottish records. She was born to mother Lucia and father Pasqualo, an ice cream dealer.

The discovery was made after researchers explored millions of birth, marriage, tax and census records on the Scotland’s People website, revealing a host of seasonal names linked to Christmas.

Among them is Advent Allan of Bridgeton, born on December 7, 1871. Henry Christmas Clarke was born on Christmas Day in Inverness in 1876 and later became a priest. William Snow also added to the festive theme after marrying on Christmas Day in Edinburgh in 1805.

Not all of the names were chosen to reflect the season. Angel Maria Lopez was born in Glasgow in April 1873 and named after his father, while Julia Tinsel was born in Logie, Perthshire, in 1882. Records also show George Turkey living on Rose Street in Edinburgh in the 1841 census.

Agnes Elf O’Brien was born in Peterhead in 1899, though it is not known if she had any connection to Robert Sleigh, a shoemaker listed in the 1878 valuation rolls. A Frederick Trimming is also recorded as marrying Elizabeth Hurly in Edinburgh in 1868.

Researchers also uncovered a historical namesake for the Christmas movie character George Bailey. This George Bailey was a stage carpenter living with his wife and two daughters in the Ferryhill area of Aberdeen in 1901.

Alison Byrne, chief executive of National Records of Scotland, said: “This list of Christmas names gives a glimpse into the treasures which lie in our archives.

“We can’t promise everyone has an ancestor called Santa or Elf but if your relatives owned or rented property or were born, married or died in Scotland it’s likely that they’re in our records.”