I have the same case where there are lots of girls in family (born 1845 - 1880) who have their maternal Grandmother's surname as their middle name (ie. Wilson). I thought maybe these could be names of sisters/aunts? Also there are a couple of sons with their mother's maiden name as their middle name (ie. Renwick) - and thought these might be named after brothers/uncles. Is this possible, or is the surname just added as a middle name to all names. Cheers! Karina Randall Victoria, Australia -----Original Message----- From: Paul Kean [mailto:pauljkean@yahoo.com.au] Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 12:23 AM To: SCT-EDINBURGH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [EDB] Scottish naming patterns G'day Ian, I've also found that in many cases girls were given a second name that was the maiden name of their maternal grandmother. My M-I-L's second name is Young and her mother's second name was Carnie. This is useful for tracing back the female side of the family. I think this was done this way as a method of carrying the family history through two generations. Most people would know their mother's maiden name but probably not their grandmother's. Hence the naming pattern. I don't know exactly how long this method existed, but my M-I-L was born in 1938 and her mother in 1914, both in Edinburgh. Paul Kean (Sunny?? Melbourne Australia) --- Ian Dunbar <ian_dunbar@bigpond.com> wrote: > Would some one be able to outline Scottish naming patterns for me > please? > > Ian > http://my.yahoo.com.au - My Yahoo! - It's My Yahoo! Get your own! ______________________________