In a message dated 01/08/2004 00:06:01 GMT Daylight Time, thyword21@earthlink.net writes: If he died in the first week of life, as in one case I know about, the name was passed on. If the first son had started school, say, or had even lived long enough to establish an identity in society, the name would probably not be reused, except perhaps as a middle name Mmm I don't know that I'd quite agree with that. A rapid look through my tree has found one child dying at the age of 11 and another being given the same name 7 years later, another two year old's name being reused and a one year old daughter's name being used again 6 years later. OK perhaps a child who had lived long enough to be a personality perhaps would have his name reused for the next child of the same sex but it wouldn't be a bar for future use. and although I can't find them at the moment I'm sure I've seen instances where a couple just kept naming their daughters the same until they got one who survived. Irene