An Alewife by any other name could be called a Moon eye

• watershed narratives

Alosa pseudoharengus common names: river herring, razor belly, gaspereau or gasparot, moon eye

Alewife – Pomolobus pseudoharengus (Wilson) 1811 [approximate date]
Now –  Alosa Vernalis

GASPEREAU; SAWBELLY; KYAK; BRANCH HERRING; FRESH-WATER HERRING; GRAYBACK   (Bigelow p.101)

 ALEWIFE, plur. alewives. (Indian, aloof. Alosa vernalis, Storer, Massachusetts Rep’t.) A fish of the herring kind, abounding in the waters of New England.

The name appears to be an Indian one, though it is somewhat changed, as appears by the earliest account we have of it. In former times, the Indians made use of these fish to manure their lands, as the menhaden are now used. Mr. Winthrop says, “Where the ground is bad or worn out, they put two or three of the fishes called aloofes under or adjacent to each corn-hill; whereby they had many times a double crop to what the ground would otherwise have produced. The English have learned the like husbandry, where these aloofes come up in great plenty.”–Philosophical Trans. 1678. Dictionary of Americanisms John Russell Bartlett  1848

“the alewife is like a herrin’, but it has a bigger bellie, therefore called an alewife”

Dictionary of Americanisms quotes a volume from 1675.  the Run p.24  cannot find the quote

What’s in a name?

“Biologists schooled in the baffling flora and fauna Latin classification systems know alewives as Alosa pseudoharengus, a member of the Clupeldae herring family. But what’s with blending “ale” and “wives”? Ale is a form of beer, and wives are, well … wives.

For those paid to dwell on linguistic conundrums, the source of “alewife” has been a significant source of angst. Some say that “alewife” is a corruption of the Native American word “aloofe,” which means “bony fish.” Others think it was coined as a reference to a female keeper of an English ale house or tavern.

A volume printed in 1675 makes reference to  ( actually referred to in) a book titled “The Run”  (Hay 1959) which includes this conjecture: “The alewife is like a herrin’ but it has a bigger bellie, therefore called an alewife.” Sure enough, an alewife does have a deep body and is sturdily-built forward, perhaps a reference to the stout and busty female tavern keepers of merry old England.

Or not.

For the record, the term “alewife” is not used in Canada, where the fish is called “gaspereau.” Several rivers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia bear the same name. And the same species of Alosa pseudoharengus.”  Tom Walsh BDN May 04.2013