Our ancestors often used the following namming procedure when picking out a name for a new child. This explains why certain names are very common in a given family line. Watching for these patterns can help in your genealogy research. 1st son.............................father's father 2nd son............................mother's father 3rd son.............................father 4th son..............................father's oldest brother 5th son..............................father's 2nd oldest brother OR mother's oldest brother 1st daughter......................mother's mother 2nd daughter.....................father's mother 3rd daughter......................mother 4th daughter......................mother's oldest sister 5th daughter......................mother's 2nd oldest sister or father's oldest sister This was true in my grandmother's Pennsylvania Dutch (Palatine German) family and she named her children accordingly. Happy searching, Glenda in Memphis Ken-Womack@worldnet.att.net