This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/XBB.2ACE/1588.4.1.1 Message Board Post: The "A" Actually stands/stood for "Allen". I know this because it is my own namesake. George A. Smith Sr. Was my gggrandfather. My middle name is also Allen, as is my father's, who was named after his grandfather, George Allen Smith Jr.