Given Names

Given names can be clues that help you find our ancestors. Many times a child's middle name would be the maiden name of the mother. Even today many boys are named after their father, but society in general has drifted away from many of the traditional naming customs. The first given names, for example, often followed the pattern below:

1st son was named after the father's father.
2nd son was named after the mother's father.
3rd son was named after the father.
4th son was named after the father's eldest brother.
5th son was named after the mother's eldest brother.
6th son was named after the father's second eldest brother.
7th son was named after the mother's second eldest brother and so forth.

1st daughter was named after the mother's mother.
2nd daughter was named after the father's mother.
3rd daughter was named after the mother.
4th daughter was named after the mother's eldest sister and so forth.

Of course, this pattern was not always followed, but knowing that this was a common naming practice can help you gather circumstantial evidence of family relationships.