I was once told that there was a certain superstition, or similar, that most Germans had two middle names but the reasoning was forgotten. Can anyone come up with an explanation? Thanks & have a g'day! Duane Dorman

The tradition is to give the child middle names of both grandparents. My brother and I have 2 middle names, one from each of our grandparents. Monika -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: May 06, 2010 1:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Double middle name I was once told that there was a certain superstition, or similar, that most Germans had two middle names but the reasoning was forgotten. Can anyone come up with an explanation? Thanks & have a g'day! Duane Dorman German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

There are several different family traditions. In the nobility each child carries at least 4 first names. Among the Burgher Class the first born son was named after his father and paternal grandfather - two names. Subsequent male children were named after the mother's father and grandfather and after that they were named after sponsors, which were like uncles and would take care of the child in case the parents died before the child was of age. Girls would usually be named after their sponsoring aunts, sister of her mother, or a very good friend, who would take the "mother's part" in case the child's mother would die in childbirth, or would expire due to pandemics. But to have two middle names was very rare in the German Bohemian families of any status, excepting nobility. Aida ---------------------------- On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Monika Wise <[email protected]>wrote: > The tradition is to give the child middle names of both grandparents. My > brother and I have 2 middle names, one from each of our grandparents. > Monika > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > [email protected] > Sent: May 06, 2010 1:11 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Double middle name > > > I was once told that there was a certain superstition, or similar, that > most Germans had two middle names but the reasoning was forgotten. > > Can anyone come up with an explanation? > > Thanks & have a g'day! > > Duane Dorman > German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > German-Bohemian Heritage Society web site http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >