Vivienne, The source is from an article at www.genealogy.com on the Importance of Given Names. Here is the website address for the article http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/35_donna.html I've been noticing this very pattern in most of my family since I started researching in Scotland, but I never said that it was a die hard rule only a popular naming pattern. You don't want to give it too much credence as the article says. Dee > Could you tell me the source for this please? In all my studies I've > never seen any indication of a popular UK-wide pattern in this period. > There is evidence from the past of a Scottish pattern, but there seems > less evidence of a single English pattern, let alone any overall UK one.