Hello, This is the seminal article on German naming patterns. I have been finding this and losing it for years - so I'm posting it here so I can find it the next time! http://www.kerchner.com/germname.htm Below is a section of the article - the reason I find this so fascinating is that it appears that my Scotch-Irish family in Pennsylvania followed the German naming pattern - no, I don't understand why, but if I works out I'll have the surnames of 2 missing grannies. Diane Hettrick [email protected] 4. It was a common practice in some German families to name the first born son after the child's paternal grandfather and the second born son after the maternal grandfather. Here are several more detailed naming patterns practiced by some families. 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