Understanding Wadawurrung Family Names
The following article revisits Lou Lane’s 1990 contribution to Investigator, in which she examines the naming customs of the Wathaurung (now Wadawurrung) people as recorded in early colonial journals. Drawing on Andrew Todd’s 1835 census and later records, Lane’s analysis offers rare insight into how family relationships were expressed through names, and how these traditions reflect a deep cultural emphasis on kinship, identity, and continuity. Her work remains a valuable touchstone for understanding Wadawurrung heritage in the Geelong region. In this article, I have used the accepted modern spelling of our local indigenous people, which was not in use at the time Lou Lane was writing.
Understanding Wadawurrung Family Names: Insights from Lou Lane
In her 1990 Investigator article, Lou Lane offers a rare and richly detailed analysis of Wathaurung naming customs, drawn from Andrew Todd’s 1835 journal and the 1842 Sievwright census. Her work reveals not only the names of individuals present at the dawn of European settlement on the Bellarine Peninsula, but also the cultural logic behind how those names were formed and used.
This work builds on the foundational efforts of Dr Phillip Brown, whose 1989 publication of The Todd Journal first brought Andrew Todd’s original census to wider attention and preserved the names that Lou Lane so carefully analysed.
Lane identifies a striking pattern in the way Wadawurrung parents named themselves in relation to their children. Many mothers adopted a prefix: CORA, CORO, or CORRA which was followed by their child’s name, effectively identifying themselves as “Mother of [child].” Fathers used similar prefixes: WORRA or WARRA. This practice, Lane argues, reflects a deep cultural emphasis on kinship and generational continuity. It also suggests a form of address used when introducing one’s family to outsiders, perhaps as a gesture of pride or relational identity.
Out of 21 women listed by Todd, 14 followed this naming convention. The remaining seven, along with one unmarried woman, provide rare examples of genuine Wadawurrung female given names, such as CANNAWOOL, MEMAMER, and NEARNCOMJAM. Lane treats these names with reverence, noting their scarcity and cultural value.
Her analysis also draws parallels with South Australian tribes studied by Rev. George Taplin, who observed similar patterns of name adoption and gendered suffixes. Lane uses these comparisons to deepen our understanding of Wadawurrung naming practices, while acknowledging the limitations of colonial record-keeping and the challenges of interpreting unfamiliar sounds.
Statistical comparisons between Todd’s 1835 list and the Sievwright census of 1842 reveal a sobering survival rate: only 42% of the named individuals were still present seven years later. Lane’s article closes with a poignant reflection on the children listed, “the last carefree generation”, whose lives were soon to be disrupted by colonisation.
Through careful linguistic observation and cultural sensitivity, Lou Lane’s work preserves a vital thread of Wadawurrung heritage. Her article remains one of the few sources to document these names in context, offering insight into a naming tradition that honoured family, identity, and belonging.
Lou Lane’s full article, “Wathaurung Family Names,” appeared in Investigator, Vol. 25, No. 4 (December 1990), published by the Geelong Historical Society. Members can read it here.
