Where does Winter come from?

Where does Winter come from?
A seasonal look at a traditional Jersey name.

A strange Christian name that emerges in Jersey families is that of “Winter”. Examples of the names are Alfred Winter Blampied (born 1879), Philip Winter Blampied (born 1904 Winter D. Blampied (born 1877) and Winter George Hamon (born 1878).

Marie-Louise Backhurst notes that “Winter” as a Christian name probably had nothing to do with the season and in fact derived from a family surname. "It does not follow automatically that children in Jersey were named after their parents, grandparents, other relatives or godparents; name choosing could be idiosyncratic, with names invented or chosen to commemorate an event (in Gorey there was a boy called Ypres). 

Children were sometimes named after famous people of the day, about whom we know little.” “Surnames are also used occasionally; the name Winter was very popular for boys in the Island in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; I believe that it started with the Winter family of St Brelade who had shipping interests in Newfoundland; a Philippe Winter was Constable of St Helier, and his nephew, Philippe Winter Nicolle (always known as Winter, perhaps to distinguish him from his father and grandfather), not only continued his family's interest in the cod trade, but was also leader of the Rose party. Other Christian names popular in Jersey at the turn of this century may also have derived from surnames, such as Hedley, Snowdon and Garnet” 

Brian Read suggests that “Winter” as a Christian name spread as it was associated with prestige:

"It must be remembered that in those days the population of Jersey was largely Frenchs peaking or Norman-French. This means that English names would have had a rather exotic look about them and may even have been considered somewhat 'upmarket' because it tended to be the monied or upper classes in the town who spoke English in those days.” 

And it soon became widespread, as Ann Le Masurier notes: “Winter was a very popular boys name in the Island. Many men in my father's generation born 1920-1930's were christened Winter and I'm sure this may have been the case for earlier generations. The popular boys name Helier also seems to have died out about this time.” 

One of the names on the St Brelade’s War memorial is that of Private Herbert Winter Potier, aged 21 years, 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, killed in action on 11th August 1918. He is buried at Bouchoir New British Cemetery, near Amiens. The Jersey Evening Post said “the deceased was in his 22nd year and was a very popular young fellow.”