If it is allowable, may I share a personal experience with you ? My father was the youngest of 8 children, and they were all given the same name combinations of their parent's families; and in turn, repeated the same patterns with their children... except for my Dad. None of my 7 brothers and sisters were named"after" ANY one in either of my parent's families; nor were any of us given names that could be shortened or nicknamed. Anyone tracing our family would find no clues to naming patterns. I was the youngest, and grew up with the rumor that I named myself. :-) It seems that my older siblings all wanted a role in naming me, and of course 7 youngsters couldn't agree, so I went unnamed for the first year (or more) of my life. When I was teased about it, my philosophic mother would appease me by saying that I was "so special" that they were "choosy" about naming me.. and I was naive enough to beleive her. Of course, my siblings would try to convince me that my birth was so uneventful, and unwelcomed, that they just didn't bother with naming me. ( Wouldn't the modern psycholigists have a field day with that one???? I would grow up with (a) an inflated ego, (b) with an inferiority complex (c) psychosis, ad nauseam! They would be disappointed to know that we were, and are, a very close knit family. ) When it came time for me to apply for SS, of course I had to produce my birth certificate. When I applied for it, I learned that the doctor who delivered me ( at home) had not even recorded it. I can only assume that he delayed recording it until I was named, and it got lost in the shuffle. I was able to obtain a "certificate of birth", after finding 3 relatives to verify that I was "born". ---------- > Hello to all! > > I have only briefly scanned this Naming Thing, though I will look at it in > more detail later. But I thought it would be an appropriate place for this > anticdote told to me by my Grandmother. > > Evidently, back in the days when people had such huge families they ran out of > ideas for names. My granny had a cousin who was born at home. When the > doctor asked her name, the parents said they hadn't decided yet. Well the > doctor picked the name "Mary" and put it on her birth certificate. In the > meantime, the parents decided that "Estelle" was a pretty name and she was > known by that. It was only when she went to draw her social security, that > she found out her birth certificate was listed in a different name. Imagine > her surprise. > > In another instance, a baby boy was born. The harried father was asked what > the name should be and the only name he could think of was the name of the > then current president, Calvin Coolidge. Fortunatelyl, Calvin lived to be a > very old man. <VBG> > > It was evidently not unheard of for doctors to just put any old name on the > certificate. So it could be necessary in some cases to look for the names of > the parents and the correct birthdate. > > Marsha > > > > ==== KYJacksonPurchase Mailing List ==== > Check out the Jackson Purchase Images Page at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygraves/temp/JPL.htm > for landowner survey maps of portions of the Jackson Purchase, plus other > images. Check it often - it changes as new material > is added. >