Genealogy Chat

me

Oh, but you can come ever so unstuck doing this.... One branch of my family helpfully named all the eldest sons Henshaw and the eldest girls Parnall - names which reflected their ancestry right back to the 1400s. So when I found an undiscovered Parnall, I desperately tried to squeeze her into my tree. After much headscratching and searching, I discovered that her father worked for the family and was sucking up to his boss by naming his daughter thus! Olde Crone

the custom of using the mother's maiden name as a middle name is not restricted to Cornwall. I believe it is also common in Scotland, and also in parts of Northumberland where my lot were from. Still in use in 2 of my lines today - and so incredibly useful!

nudge for merry

The Cornish one - where mums maiden name is given as a second name was a great help when I was trying to trace my rellie from Penzance who became a ships joiner in London. His middle name was Hosking and thanks to an online parish clerk in Cornwall I found his parents marriage and her fathers details.

Ohh Yes alter i found that out, The hugh Humphreys Evans ive been looking for was born in wales he was named after his mums dad Hugh Humphreys but they also added His his grandmothers maiden name in his name so he is Hugh Humphreys davy Evans, His mum caroline has davy as her middle name, her mum mary Crane Humphreys i presume has her mothers maiden name as her middle name, mary was from cornwall as well,. Are you confused yet lol My theory is because Hugh Humphreys only had daughters when Hugh junior was born they named him after his grandad Now my mums maternal side was smith ( now im on the right family) ive found all the first eldst sons seem to named John arghhhhh

Alter Ego Thanks for that. It may be useful, but of course, there are no guarantees or easy ways of doing things in this mullarkey!! But then.... would we really enjoy the highs so much if it was easy???

And if the father is named after his father then the first son would be the name of both so the third would be named after?

mmm thats a problem i have in middle england- richards ,anns,williams,thomas's,mary's etc-and they often marry someone with the same name as their siblings or parents !! Ive got 3 mariages with a richard marrying an ann,and a william marrying an elizabeth in the same village !!

Except that if all the names are John, William, Mary and Ann there will be tons of families with these names in the pattern! Plus, first son William dies and the fourth son is then named William etc. nell

First son was named after the father's father. Second son was named after the mother's father. Third son was named after the father. Fourth son was named after the father's oldest brother. Fifth son was named after the father's 2nd oldest brother or mother's oldest brother. First daughter was named after the mother's mother. Second daughter was named after the father's mother. Third daughter was named after the mother. Fourth daughter was named after the mother's oldest sister. Fifth daughter is named after the mother's 2nd oldest sister or father's oldest sister. English and Welsh Naming Pattern ... First daughter was named after the mother's mother. Second daughter was named after the mother's father's mother. Third daughter was named after the mother. Fourth daughter was named after the mother's oldest sister. First son was named after the father's father. Second son was named after the mother's father. Third son was named after the father. Fourth son was named after the father's oldest brother. Irish Naming Pattern ... First son after father's father Second son after mother's father Third son after father Fourth son after father's oldest brother Fifth son after mother's oldest brother First daughter after mother's mother (or father's mother) Second daughter after father's mother (or mother's mother) Third daughter after mother Fourth daughter after mother's oldest sister Fifth daughter after father's oldest sister Scottish Naming Pattern ... First son was named after his father's father Second son was named after his mother's father Third son was named after his father First daughter was named for her mother's mother Second daughter was named for her father's mother Third daughter was named after her mother Other daughters were named after other family members --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't be mislead into thinking that this is a hard and fast rule. Cornish ancestry =common practice there to give all children their mother's maiden surname as a second christian name. There will be all sorts of variations on this no doubt,but my basic tip is that sometimes these patterns will help you find the next generation back ie the parents names .It will certainly give you a small pool of names first to try in your basic searches.

See below