When Emma Barnacle was born in 1853, in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom, her father, Richard Barnacle, was 22 and her mother, Louisa Smith, was 27. She had at least 2 sons with Hugh Chapman. She lived in Chester Township, Saunders, Nebraska, United States in 1880 and Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, United States in 1910.
English:
perhaps from Middle English bernacle, barnakyll, a diminutive of bernak, from Old French bernac ‘powerful bit or twitch’, used to restrain a restive horse or ass, which was also used as an instrument of torture. The term may have been applied as a nickname for a tamer of restive horses, for a man with an unruly temperament, or for a torturer.
perhaps a nickname for someone thought to resemble a barnacle goose (Middle English bernacle) in some way.
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