That naming pattern you did not find in the German families IS prevalent in the Scotch-Irish. In them, where it looks like a girl is named for an aunt, it usually is the aunt was named for a grandmother, ( the baby in question's great grandmother) so keep looking UP the family tree, and most of the time, there will be a person who was a namesake. Then there are all the kids named for famous ministers of the day, Lorenzo Dow for one; and politicians.Sometimes the politicians are also kin, but most of the time, not. Catherine<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See what's new at http://www.aol.com</HTML>