Lee, I think you will find what you are looking for at - http://www.usgenweb.org/researchers/names.html Regards, Roy Chandler LNEEDHAM@aol.com wrote: > > Eons ago I obtained some information, from where I know not now, but it gave > the order that children were named back in the early days, be it tradition, > the proper thing to do, or what, I know not, but the first male issue was > named, always for say the fathers family, the second for what ever, and the > females the same. I can not remember what the order was, but do know that > that was always the case. This naming info was for the benefit of genalogist > who were trying to determine perhaps the surname of the female spouse or the > parents of the male spouse. The surnames of the grandparents was used and > the implication was that by reflecting on the middle names of issue it helped > locate unknown parents, etc. If anyone has anything that even remotely > reflects on this naming process I would like to hear from you.