Saturday, August 17, 2013

Naming Patterns

Today in naming our children few parents use the old naming patterns, but in genealogical research these naming patterns and use of family and friends names is invaluable. I know first hand about this because I was able to locate the next generation back from my gg grandparents by using this very method which opened up a world of additional ancestors that had been previously documented. Prior to the 20th century this naming pattern was used by most families.

I do have one naming pattern of my own that I have noticed has occurred too often to not mention and it's a very curious one: the last child in many families was named after their paternal grandfather. It could have been that a previous child had already had that name and had died and the parents used the same name again. It could be something that simple, but I've seen it too many times to not mention it.

Now that I am writing a post about this, I'm going to check these naming patterns out in my own family tree. I have noticed that the Father of the child seems to come later on in the naming of the sons.

First son was named after his (the first son's) paternal Grandfather - his Father's Father.
Second son was named after his maternal Grandfather - his Mother's Father.
Third son was named after the Father, or the Father's paternal Grandfather.
Fourth son was named after the Father's eldest brother or after the Mother's paternal Grandfather.
Fifth son was named after the Mother's eldest brother or after the Father's maternal Grandfather.
Sixth son was named after the Father's eldest brother or after the Mother's maternal Grandfather.

Daughters
First daughter was named after her maternal Grandmother.
Second daughter was named after her paternal Grandmother.
Third daughter was named after the Mother or the Mother's maternal Grandmother.
Fourth daughter was named after the Mother's eldest sister or after the Father's paternal Grandmother.
Fifth daughter was named after the Father's eldest sister or after the Mother's paternal Grandmother.
Sixth daughter was named after the Mother's 2nd eldest sister or after the Father's paternal Grandmother.

I'm particularly interested in the middle names of children because they are typically names that denote the favorite relatives. It can also be used to connect family members, when records can't be found.