Dee Lerch <dlerch@uniserve.com> wrote: >Naming Pattern popular between >1700 and 1875 in UK 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 first daughter after the mother's mother >- The second daughter after the father's mother >- The third daughter after the mother >- The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister 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. There is a very common pattern that researchers see in lowland Scottish families during the pre-1900 period, and that runs to 1st son after father's father 2nd son after mother's father 3rd son after father 1st dau after mother's mother 2nd dau after father's mother 3rd dau after mother But there were enough variations in this pattern even in lowland Scotland to caution people against relying upon it completely, and to extend any "standard" pattern beyond the first 3 sons/daughters is pushing any idea of "standardization" way too far IMHO. For a detailed discussion of this see for example Gerald Hamilton-Edwards' "In seach of Scottish ancestry" Chapter 5 (other Scottish genealogy textbooks should also cover naming patterns to varying degrees). In my albeit more limited experience of English research I've found it hard to detect evidence of any kind of pattern, though something that I have seen (albeit more in southern England) is a fairly high chance of a couple naming son 1 after the father (i.e. the child's father) and daughter 1 after the mother. Beyond that any naming seems to be very varied. This extends across England east-west. Moving further north I've seen some cases of what looks at the start like a Scottish pattern, but then it varies again: more often than not drawing on biblical (non family) names for the younger children. And back in Scotland (in the Borders) where one parent is from England (I wish the census returns were more precise on cross-Border birthplaces!) there seems less chance of the Scottish pattern being upheld when it comes to naming children. Can other listers comment on any pattterns or otherwise on the English side of the border, e.g. in the Northumberland/Cumberland area? Was there something approaching a Scottish pattern, or was the situation very different? Was there even a pattern at all? Experiences from single families are interesting, but it can be easier to look for overall patterns if you've examined many many families in an area, e.g. perhaps as part of a local or community history project. If anyone falls into this category and can comment on the naming patterns I'd be delighted to hear from you. Ditto for any written commentary on the subject (that can be substantiated). Many thanks! Viv Dunstan Fife, Scotland (but originally from Roxburghshire) http://www.vivdunstan.clara.net/ P.S. Apologies if the naming pattern given at the top comes from a published book or likewise, but I suspect that it may be false whatever. Even something in a published book can be incorrect :)