On, 01 Feb. 2015 16:02:20 -0500, "Percival P. Cassidy" <[email protected]> wrote: >On 02/01/2015 09:52 AM, Graeme Wall wrote: > >>> "There are quite a few death's for Violet Geary listed on Ancestry. Most >>> of them have a middle name but as a Catholic (presumably) she may have >>> adopted her baptismal name" >>> >>> Could you explain this please? >>> >>> Is this an English practice? > >> It's a Catholic practice but not necessarily widespread. When you are >> baptised you get a baptismal (saint's) name that may or may not be one >> of your existing names. In some cases that name may get adopted as part >> of the person's name in later life. I've no idea how common a practice >> it is but it may explain why someone with no middle name at birth >> acquires one in later life. > >Similar in Eastern Orthodox practice: children are usually given the >name of a saint. Those received into the Orthodox church later in life >(by chrismation/"Confirmation") *may* add the name of a saint to their >original name(s). My 19th century ancestors in Prussia customarily gave every daughter the name of, apparently, their favorite saint so there might be two or more Annas in a family; they were sorted out by a middle name. The first US generation generally had dropped the custom of naming by saints. There were a few but not many families that also named sons in the same pattern. -- Don [email protected]