sharing from another list.. info of interest! glory bee Hello Raclare, You are correct in saying that certain names were "fashionable" in certain localities, in certain families, and tend to follow certain patterns, I would assume. So far, I have found several of these patterns in my ancestral records, such as giving boys "José" as a first name, but using a second or third name as the "name in use," as it can be seen in marriage records (where the name "José" often does not appear). Second, giving the first name María to girls, which often also tended to disappear by the time the particular person married. Third, giving the child the saint name of the birthdate as another one of the names. Although I agree that this does not always happen, in the case of my ancestors, it often did, such as my dad being given the middle name "Lucio" after "Santa Lucía" because he was born on Dec. 13 (1922). Another note, is that I remember looking at religious calendars as a child (I grew up in Mexico) and noticing that almost every day had not one, but two or three saints, which means that the parents had a choice of several saints to name the child after. Fourth, many children were given the names of other relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents), which I am sure is common in every culture at almost any point in time, which translates into certain towns having certain predominant names and an almost total absence of others. Fifth, many children were given the same name as that of a deceased older brother or sister, especially when the older sibling died at a young age. So that in some cases, several christening records from the same nuclear family have the same names given to children born at different times. I am sure there are many more patterns but it is important to be aware of them as it makes searches easier. Most important, I believe, is to look for an indivual under any one of their names and not just the first. Last names are another subject, but I have found chirstening records listing the mother´s second (or maternal) surname as the child´s second surname. Confusing, huh? Thanks a lot for making a point of the fact that the saint´s name was not always given to the child, and we should definitely not assume that this is the case, although in some cases it is. Patricia Pulles "Agnes R. Kanal" wrote: While tradition may favor giving a child the name of the saint on whose day he/she is born, I find something rather different in the New Spain/Mexico archives I work with. Names seem to have more to do with the locality, or some criterion I do not understand, than with the day of birth. Certain names were very popular in a certain period and region. In one set of records I find the name Maria del Carmen del Refugio given over and over again. Every girl in the area must have been Maria del Carmen, including one of my tias abuelas. The name Raphael bursts into popularity somewhere along the line, having been almost non-existent in earlier records. Maria Ignacias abound. These cannot be explained by saints' day naming. Does anyone have an idea of what can make a name so very popular at a given time? I have looked some of these names up in the Book of the Saints that I got at the Franciscan center here in D.C., but I don't find any answer in them. Raclare -- Grand parents Raising Grandchildren Support Group 1st Wednesday of month---7:00 P.M. Katheryn Heidenreich Adult Center Governor's task force on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Grands place/by state--resource center http://www.grandsplace.com Over 5 million Grands are raising Grands Being a Grand is more than cookies and milk