Some one on another list sent this, hope it helps Naming Order of Children English and Welsh, 1700 - 1879. First daughter - named after the mother's mother (maternal grandmother) Second daughter - named after the mother's father's mother Third daughter - named after the mother Fourth daughter - named after the mother's oldest sister First son - named after the father's father Second son was named after the mother's father Third son - named after the father Fourth son - named after the father's eldest brother. Exceptions apply if there was a duplication of a given name. In that case the practice was to skip to the next name on the list. Irish, 1800's. First daughter - named after the paternal grandmother Second daughter - named after the maternal grandmother First son - named after the paternal grandfather, Second son - named after the maternal grandfather After that alternate names using the grandmothers', grandfather's; mother's, aunt's and uncle's names. If a child died, that name was to be recycled with a future child. Scottish, 1700 to 1800's. First daughter - named for maternal grandmother Second daughter - named for paternal grandmother Third daughter - named after her mother Other daughters were named after other family members First son - named after paternal grandfather Second son - named after maternal grandfather Third son - named after his father This policy holds true unless one family member had more assets or a higher social standing than the other. One unique aspect of Scottish naming was that if two grandmothers or two grandfathers had the same given name, two children in the same family would end up with the same name. Another practice was to name daughters after the clergyman or other important male figure. Regards Cheryl Australia