Cornwall, EnglandA lot of couples, when having a baby, want to pay tribute to or honor a loved one by naming their child after them. It is common all over the world. One interesting example of this is in England and Wales from around 1700-1875. The people used what is called a naming pattern. This is how it went:
The first son was named
after the father’s father,
the second son was named
the second son was named
after the mother’s father,
the third son was named
the third son was named
after the father,
the fourth son was named
the fourth son was named
after the father’s eldest brother,
the first daughter was named
the first daughter was named
after the mother’s mother,
the second daughter was named
the second daughter was named
after the father’s mother,
the third daughter was named
the third daughter was named
after the mother,
the fourth daughter was named
the fourth daughter was named
after the mother’s eldest sister.
This was not the always the case, however, it is a help if your ancestors used it. Some people would say, that is very confusing, especially if one or two or even more of the children died in their infancy. If this happened, it was common for the parents to name the next child the same name. Why? Because they would want the name to continue on. It was a living tribute to their loved ones. For example, there could be two or three little boys named William in the same family, which may mean that the first ones died and the last one lived to adulthood or at least until the family was through having children. I have been able to find information about my family thanks to this naming pattern. Samson and Charity’s oldest daughter was named Harriet and their second oldest son was name Henry. Guess what? That meant that when I looked for information concerning their family I would look for Charity’s mother and father’s names to be Henry and Harriet, and they were. I’m glad there are tools like this to help us find our ancestors.
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy
This was not the always the case, however, it is a help if your ancestors used it. Some people would say, that is very confusing, especially if one or two or even more of the children died in their infancy. If this happened, it was common for the parents to name the next child the same name. Why? Because they would want the name to continue on. It was a living tribute to their loved ones. For example, there could be two or three little boys named William in the same family, which may mean that the first ones died and the last one lived to adulthood or at least until the family was through having children. I have been able to find information about my family thanks to this naming pattern. Samson and Charity’s oldest daughter was named Harriet and their second oldest son was name Henry. Guess what? That meant that when I looked for information concerning their family I would look for Charity’s mother and father’s names to be Henry and Harriet, and they were. I’m glad there are tools like this to help us find our ancestors.
Happy Family History Friday! Love, Joy