Dan, common family surnames came into existence long before our ancestors arrived in Maryland. I am not sure where you are looking but sometimes the naming pattern: John Edwards (of John)" Is used in documents to help the reader differentiate among commonly used first names within family groups. Mike On 1/4/2013 11:58 PM, Daniel B. Troublefield wrote: > Hello List, > > General question: Is the Welsh custom of naming sons after their fathers, > the reason for all the St. Mary's records of names as "John Edwards (of > John)", Joseph Edwards (of Ignatius), Joseph (of Benjamin), etc.? > The Joseph Edwards' ancestry was Welsh, from what I've read. In Welsh, John > (of John) would be more like "Ieuan ap Ieuan" or something like that, I > think, where "ap" means "son of" in Cymric. > > Dan > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MDSTMARY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Mike and Karen Gough ltcolmichaelj@bellsouth.net