Genealogy Chat

Graeme I have recently used a middle name which at the time appeared from nowhere. I thought that Christian names could be a matter of choice, but the only reason for a surname being used as a middle name was because it comes from an ancestor. I persevered and found the ancestor 2 generations back, without the link of the middle name I don't know if I would have found her. Just keep going, the name will appear. Molly

Thanks Wendy That is exactly how they are naming the children!! Everything much clearer now. Molly

nudge for later

Graeme quite a few of my scottish rellies have their grandmothers & 1 has a great grandmothers maiden name as a middle name. Just keep going back & you will come across it (hopefully). Georgina.

This is very interesting. But does anybody know how its applies to middle names ? One of the daughters (only child) in my tree has the middle name McGilvray ... so how far back does this go, as it wasn't her mothers maiden name? GH

I'd seen this before but had never checked to see if it applied to my Grandmothers family. They all fit in nicely. I can't believe my Grandmother followed this in the 20th century.

Thanks very much for the information. My families seem to follow the rules up to the 6th child, then seem to call them after parents siblings . Thanks Molly

Molly this info is from scotlands people... Traditional naming patterns Scots often named children by following a simple set of rules: 1st son named after father's father 2nd son named after mother's father 3rd son named after father 1st daughter named after mother's mother 2nd daughter named after father's mother 3rd daughter named after mother Although this was not universally applied (some families adhered strictly, others “dabbled” and still others ignored it), it can still be helpful in determining the correct entry when confronting the relative lack of information in the OPR’s. It can also give rise to great confusion when eight children of the same family in a small parish name their offspring according to convention! The use of traditional naming patterns gradually declined during the 19th century. The application of naming conventions and the general desire to ensure that a family forename perpetuated through the generations, sometimes led to duplication of forenames within a family. For example, where a family wished to adhere strictly to the traditional naming pattern, and both grandfathers bore the same forename, that name might be given to more than one child. If a child died young, parents might name a later child after the dead sibling. In unfortunate cases, the name may have been used more than once. Sometimes there appears to be no rhyme or reason to the naming: a child might be named after the minister, the midwife, the doctor, an employer, an influential personage in the community or a close friend, who might appear as a witness to the birth. Witnesses are not always given in OPR entries, but where they are, sometimes (as in Dundee) you will find their relationship to child, if any, noted, e.g. “Charles Jobson, grandfather”, “Mrs Janet Speid, father’s mother”. Georgina.

Hi I found this site which gives a few more http://www.halmyre.abel(.)co(.)uk/Family/naming.htm None of mine seem to follow the pattern though

Please can anyone help? I googled the above and got the system of calling children after maternal/paternal grandmothers/grandfathers and parents but this only accounts for 6 children. Who were subsequent children called after? I have a large extended scottish family in the 1800's who had more than 6 children, and the same names keep appearing in all the families as if they were following an extended tradition after the 6th child. This may be a coincidence but there seems to be a definite pattern of names. Can anyone help? Thanks Molly