A good family name - Enos

One of the many frustrations of family history research is the "ordinary" name. Surnames of Jones, Williams and Smith added to popular first names of John, Thomas, Henry etc make research well nigh impossible at times. Speculation and educated guesses may the nearest to accuracy one can hope for. Hence the delight in the discovery of Enos as a family name. Biblical in origin it does not seem to be one of the perennially popular first names. Added to an uncommon surname the potential for easy and accurate research seemed inevitable. One of the many lessons for the amateur family historian - never make assumptions about ease of research or easy names. How likely that there would be 2 people of the same name in the same location? Inevitable. How likely that the one with the most obvious age would be the wrong one? Inevitable. How many variations on a simple name can there be? Many. In this case - Anas, Enis, Ennis, Eunis......plus variations on the surname. How can a name such as this be abbreviated or made into a nickname? Easy - think Ernie......
It is a good name as is any slightly unusual name but then come the added frustrations. How can one person give quite so many places of birth on census returns? Sometimes the only answer seems to be to prevent future generations from finding him. A multitude of seemingly unrelated occupations makes life even more complicated and the ultimate distraction in being buried with a grandchild and not the other way round.
My genealogical obsession began with Enos and he still fascinates me. I doubt if I will ever discover why he was baptised as a child with his brothers and sisters into the Church of England when his family had been Baptists for generations. It is unlikely that I will find a photograph of him now. I will be surprised if the name is revived in the family in future generations. Yet he is pivotal. He sparked the interest and over a decade later I am still as fascinated by his story. Thank you Enos.