I often hear wails of frustration from family historians who are trying to decide which John or Mary is theirs from a long list of possible Johns and Marys living in the same place at the same time. “Why couldn’t their parents have used a bit more imagination?”, they cry. However, imagination is a privilege we have today that was not so commonly used in our ancestors’ times. Not for them were books containing thousands of weird and wonderful name choices for their babies. There was a relatively small pool of names that were used compared to today (especially for boys). These tended to be recycled through the family generation after generation. ‘What’s in a name?’ when it comes to sorting them all out?
What’s In a Name? – How to use naming patterns to your advantage
Names were often given, not to express individuality as is often the case today, but to honour previous generations. Once you are familiar with naming patterns, you can use them to help identify the likely parents and grandparents of the ancestor you are researching.
Common naming patterns in Britain
The most common naming pattern was as follows:
- 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 fifth son was named after the mother’s eldest brother or the father’s next eldest brother
- ….and so on
- The first daughter was named after the mother’s mother
- The second daughter was named after the father’s mother
- The third daughter was named after the mother
- The fourth daughter was named after the mother’s eldest sister
- The fifth daughter was named after the father’s eldest sister or the mother’s next eldest sister
- …and so on
If a name was already in use with a previous child, they would simply move down the list and use the next name. If a child died, their name was once again available for use. So don’t presume a second William Anderson in the brood is a mistake or belonged to a different Anderson family, but look for the death or burial of the first one. It was common to repeat names in the days of high infant mortality. Of course, depending on the age of the first William’s death, this may throw out the order of names. Parents simply chose the highest available ‘slot’ when naming their children.
In Scotland, the naming pattern began similarly, but rather than move on to uncles and aunts, they often carried on back through the generations, working their way through great grandparents. If the family got big enough, they may even venture into great great grandparents!
Using naming patterns to identify your ancestors
So how can you use these naming patterns to your benefit? Let’s say you have a couple of Robert Newtons in the same village who are around the same age and one of them is your ancestor. One was the son of John and Mary, the other was the son of William and Susannah. But which is yours?
Firstly, go through the parish registers to find all the children baptised to Robert and his wife. If the wife was from another parish also check there, especially for older children, as the wife may have gone home to have her first child and baptised it there. Also check neighbouring parishes, as sometimes not all children were baptised in the same place. Do the same for both sets of theoretical parents.
Now put all the children in order and check what names crop up in Robert’s family, especially around the first son (John or William?) and second daughter (Mary or Susannah?). These may well be his parents’ names if you’ve captured all their children. Also, check for distinctive names appearing in their offspring. This may help further differentiate, or help you if somehow you’ve not found all the children. For example, if Robert has a son called Moses, and so do John and Mary but William and Susannah don’t, this may lend weight to John and Mary being Robert’s parents.
Of course, naming patterns weren’t written in stone, so you should always look at other evidence to support your theory. If Robert was a baker, and William was too, but John was a blacksmith, there’s a clue that William may be his father. Did John or William leave wills?
What’s In a Name? – Using middle names to identify ancestors
From the 19th Century on, middle names started to become more common. These can be very useful in identifying a parent’s parents, especially when they appear to be surnames. For example, I come from a long line of Fields with the middle name Palmer. My son’s Tully line has a family where every child had the middle name Morrall. Now these are not common forenames, especially in an age when forenames were quite limited.
The most common reason for this is that the middle name is honouring one of the female lines by using her maiden name. This is often the mother’s line, but may go back to one of the grandmothers or further if it is also found in previous generations.
Let’s go back to the example used earlier. Say Robert’s children all have the middle name ‘Parker’. Was his wife’s maiden name Parker? If not, do any of the children born to John and Mary or William and Susannah have the middle name Parker? Or can you find a marriage between a John Newton and Mary Parker or a William Newton and Susannah Parker that is likely to be that of one of the couples you suspect of being Robert’s parents? This can be a strong indicator of which family your Robert belongs to, and help you break down a brick wall, even in a small village where intermarriage between family lines may have occurred.
Happy hunting!
I hope this post has provided a few ideas on the importance of paying attention to names and how they can help you move back through your family tree with confidence. Do you have any peculiar middle names in your family that you now plan on using as a clue? And are you ready to trawl through some parish records and find all the children?
