In a message dated 4/6/2005 7:01:33 PM Pacific Daylight Time, JCramer writes: My Guinn/Gwinn/Gwin line starts as far as I know in VA with Thomas Guinn.... He also named his first son Richard, and wonder if this may have been his father's first name. Thomas had eight son's however. Franki, Could you give us the names of Thomas' sons? As to his first son being named Richard and wondering if he was named for Thomas' father--There was a time when people had a set pattern for naming their sons, though unfortunately it didn't last throughout generations--unfortunate for us genealogists! I found it in one of my families between late 1700s and early 1800s. Here's what they did: The first son was named for the father's father. The second son was named for the mother's father. The third son was named for the father of the child. After that, it was anybody's guess. Uncles, cousins, good friends, etc. So IF Thomas followed this pattern in his family, Richard would have been the name of Thomas' father, and the third son would have been named Thomas. I've also seen where a child died, and the next child born of that gender was given the same name as the deceased child. I'm thinking it was because the name was of a well-respected relative and they wanted to make sure the relative was honored. Peggy Guinn Bowen, California