A Personal Story about Naming a Baby
I like to think of myself as a
creative person. When I was young, I often thought that I’d name my children
beautiful names that were spelled in a unique way. However, when I was in my
thirties and actually faced with suggesting a name for an unborn child that my
husband I hoped to adopt, I became symbolic at the least and family name
oriented at the most.
The name I suggested to the
birthmother was one that I’d loved since I’d heard it back in the 1960s. It
belonged to my first husband’s boss’ third child, Brianna. I’d given that name
away many times in the intervening years when someone asked for an unusual
girl’s name. That little six year old grew up to be a well-known rock band’s
manager. She was dark haired and a delight. The week before we received
knowledge about our possible baby I’d met a very intellegent high school senior
who was bagging groceries at a Kroger store. She spoke several languages,
captivated my husband and me and was getting ready to study abroad.
Putting this together with the
birthmother’s name, Michelle, I decided that if it were a girl the name could
be Brianna Michelle and if a boy, Brian Michael. It turned out that the
birthmother had a brother named Brian and a favorite uncle named Michael. This
name was perfect.
Applying Naming Patterns After 30 Years of Research
I’d never
given naming patterns much thought for the first 30 years of my genealogical
research acivities. I’d simply go to a given civil or governmental jurisdiction
and extract all the surnames that were known to be in my family living in the
area. This activity produced voluminous notes, lists of births, deaths,
marriages, etc., that may or may not have been part of my family. After all of
those years I can now state categorically that it worked. I had names of
children that died between census years, marriages that ended in the death of
one or the other spouse and have been able in almost every instance to
reconstruct allied family names, you know the ones of brothers and sisters or
aunts and uncles.
So when I
heard about Naming Patterns that were prevelant across the country in the 19th
century, I did a little research. Here it is not the surname that is a focus,
it is the first names given to babies.
These patterns can often provide an important clues to the identities of elusive family members. First of all you must
determine if the surname is English, Irish, German or other culture. Apparently
each county has a naming pattern that is common.
These
patterns are especially useful in cases
where you don’t know the names of the parents of a particular ancestor. By
looking at how the father named his children, you can have an idea as to what
his parents (and siblings) names may have been. While the above guidelines were
by no means set in stone, and sometimes varied, the pattern was usual enough in
the 19th century to be of real use to genealogists searching for ancestors.
Arlene
Eakle, a well known researcher says that, “New England families of English
background named the eldest son after his father 82% of the time. Yet, David Hackett Fischer in Albion’s Seed
discovered that families who had the right to bear a coat-of-arms in England,
lived a three-generation naming pattern:
the first-born son was named for his paternal grandfather, the second
son was named for his father. When
members of these families came to Virginia, they continued this same
pattern. By 1780, over 90% of the
first-born sons in Virginia and Maryland were named for their grandfathers.”
By looking
at naming patterns when searching for the parents of an ancestor, you can keep
a closer eye out for potential candidates by looking at their first names.
Of course, you should always verify and document all
information, and never assume to know an ancestor’s name simply by what it
would be according to the list.
Watch out for Godparents and Non-kin Names
Here is something you must watch
out for also. Consider the role of godparents for a christening. Among Anglicans, children tended to be named
for the godparent of the same sex.
Until 1865, parents did not serve as godparents in the Church of
England. Using non-kin to name your
children affects relationship formulas found in other cultures.
Using one given name was the
general rule in American families before the Civil War. And the census records seem to support this
rule. Except among Scots-Irish
families, where two given names are common.
The census enumerators in South Carolina and Texas dealt with the
problem by using initials (haven’t you hated those enumerators?) to avoid
writing cramps. Except Roman
Catholic families, where three and four given names are common. Except German families, where a
christening name and a given name precede the surname. Again watch carefully.
A Popular Hero or Good Friend Might be Honored, Too
A child might also be named after a good friend or a popular
hero of the times. I have Andrew Jackson Hicks in three sucessessive
generations of my mother’s family, as well as George Washington Eckel in
my father’s family. But the one example
I think is most interesting is the possibility of my early Richard Hicks named by his father William Hicks after
Judge Richard Henderson. Who the heck was he, you ask? Well, he hired my
William Hicks along with Daniel Boone to blaze the Wilderness Road into
Kentucky. Henderson was the founding father of Nashville, Tennessee and was
unique in that he wanted to form his own country, purchasing land from Native
Americans to do so. He wanted to call it Transylvania. (this was in the 1750s
prior to the Revolutionary War) That famous duo Lewis and Clark had a different
take on this adventurer. They fought him tooth and nail in congress after the
war and he failed to achieve his dream. However, my William Hicks was given
land for his trailblazing. The land was located on the north side of the north
fork of the Holston River in what is now Sullivan County, Tennessee. This was
so early that he appeared on the first land grants issued after the war in North Carolina for
that area as “bordering William Hicks line.” If I was William, I’d sure want to
name my kid after such a charismatic leader and thinker!
The English and Irish Naming Patterns are the Same
The first son was named after the father's father
The second son was named after the mother's father
The third son was named after the father
The fourth son was named after the father's eldest brother
The first daughter after the mother's mother
The second daughter after the father's mother
The third daughter after the mother
The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister
18th Century Pennsylvania German Naming Customs & Patterns
I have found this link to this excellent source explaining
German Naming Patterns: http://www.kerchner.com/germname.htm
The article is copyrighted by Author: Charles F. Kerchner,
Jr., 3765 Chris Drive,
Emmaus PA 18049-1544 USA
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