Hi Candy > Has anyone heard of a naming convention using maiden surnames, rather than first names? Yes ! or at least sort of. In one of the cases I have, William GILLIES married Agnes FINNIE. 3 of their 7 children were: John Finnie GILLIES (their first child); Agnes Finnie GILLIES (2nd daughter) & James Finnie GILLIES (5th son); all of whom were born in Rothesay, Bute. In this case, at least, the normal naming convention i.e. using mothers & fathers parents names didn't fully apply because William's father was Thomas & they didn't name any of their children Thomas; but, Agnes's mother was Helen & their first daughter was either Ellen or Helen (2 sources have 2 names). After looking at all my Scottish names, I am afraid that this "convention" apparently wasn't a "conventional" as it could have been :-) Good luck Graeme Gold Coast Queensland Australia