A query for you old hands out there. Any thoughts on how to use names of ancestors to find areas of possible interest for finding the next generation back, particularly in Virginia. Maynard, Craig, Barbara, Lou, Lyn? I came across this quote recently to explain an ancestor's background where good records don't exist, "It seems to have been the universal pattern to name the first son after the father's father and the second son after the mother's father." I find in an ancestor's family after the civil war there are a lot of middle names that don't seem to exist in the family tree. Could these names have been in honor of civil war buddies, good friends, very remote ancestors? I came across this as pattern for German ancestors, who I also learn were fond of giving everyone one saint's name, which finally made clear why everyone had four names. Pattern A 1st son after the father's father 2nd son after the mother's father 3rd son after the father 4th son after the father's father's father 5th son after the mother's father's father 6th son after the father's mother's father 7th son after the mother's mother's father 1st daughter after the mother's mother 2nd daughter after the father's mother 3rd daughter after the mother 4th daughter after the father's father's mother 5th daughter after the mother's father's mother 6th daughter after the father's mother's mother 7th daughter after the mother's mother's mother Pattern B The pattern B for the sons is the same as the above but this pattern for daughters was different 1st daughter after the father's mother 2nd daughter after the mother's mother 3rd daughter after the mother 4th daughter after the mother's father's mother 5th daughter after the father's father's mother Pattern C 1st son after the father's father 2nd son after the mother's father 3rd son after the father's oldest brother 4th son after the father 1st daughter after the father's mother 2nd daughter after the mother's mother 3rd daughter after the mother's oldest sister 4th daughter after the mother Diana

My experience is that with the exception of the 16th and 17th century Scottish and the occasional German, folks pretty much do what they want to when it comes to naming. There are no universals such as this in genealogy. It is a nice tool that will send you down the wrong trail more often than not. One of my ancestors named all of his children after is neighbors. That was kind of cool, but it was just in one generation. C. Craig R. Scott, CGRS Willow Bend Books 65 East Main Street Westminster, MD 21157-5026 [email protected] www.WillowBendBooks.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diana Diamond" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2001 3:21 PM Subject: Naming Patterns > A query for you old hands out there. Any thoughts on how to use names of > ancestors to find areas of possible interest for finding the next generation > back, particularly in Virginia. Maynard, Craig, Barbara, Lou, Lyn? > > I came across this quote recently to explain an ancestor's background where > good records don't exist, "It seems to have been the universal pattern to > name the first son after the father's father and the second son after the > mother's father." > > I find in an ancestor's family after the civil war there are a lot of middle > names that don't seem to exist in the family tree. Could these names have > been in honor of civil war buddies, good friends, very remote ancestors? > > I came across this as pattern for German ancestors, who I also learn were > fond of giving everyone one saint's name, which finally made clear why > everyone had four names. > > Pattern A > > 1st son after the father's father > 2nd son after the mother's father > 3rd son after the father > 4th son after the father's father's father > 5th son after the mother's father's father > 6th son after the father's mother's father > 7th son after the mother's mother's father > > 1st daughter after the mother's mother > 2nd daughter after the father's mother > 3rd daughter after the mother > 4th daughter after the father's father's mother > 5th daughter after the mother's father's mother > 6th daughter after the father's mother's mother > 7th daughter after the mother's mother's mother > > > Pattern B > > The pattern B for the sons is the same as the above > but this pattern for daughters was different > > 1st daughter after the father's mother > 2nd daughter after the mother's mother > 3rd daughter after the mother > 4th daughter after the mother's father's mother > 5th daughter after the father's father's mother > > > Pattern C > > 1st son after the father's father > 2nd son after the mother's father > 3rd son after the father's oldest brother > 4th son after the father > > 1st daughter after the father's mother > 2nd daughter after the mother's mother > 3rd daughter after the mother's oldest sister > 4th daughter after the mother > > Diana > > > > ==== POYTHRESS Mailing List ==== > The Poythress Genealogy List is hosted by the nonprofit RootsWeb Data Cooperative. If you'd like to learn more about Rootsweb please visit http://www.rootsweb.com/ > > > > > >