OUR ANCESTOR'S FIRST NAMES

First names can be amazingly effective clues in our search for ancestors. Many times in my surname searches, I would find a family tree that I would either reject immediately, or keep as a possible connection on the basis of the first names in the tree. I didn't realize then that I was doing this because of an instinctive recognition of the common first name patterns used by my ancestors prior to the 20th century.

A very common naming pattern was:

1st son - father's father

2nd son - mother's father

3rd son - father

4th son - father's oldest brother

5th son - father's second 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 second oldest sister or father's oldest sister

There were many variations to this pattern, but the clues for you are in the repitition of a name through generations.

First names can also be a source of confusion. When tracing records, you may find your ancestors in the habit of giving the exact name of a previous child who died to a later child. Many times, when a spouse died and the survivor remarried, the first child of that remarriage would be named after the deceased spouse. A child could be named after a recently deceased relative. These are all clues for your search.

Sometimes, you will find discrepencies on your records because of an ancestor going by their middle name, nickname, or an anglicized version of their first name after immigrating. We need to keep an open mind and look carefully at these discrepencies. At MariLynn Balden's Given Name Index, you can research your family names by finding variant spellings, nicknames, and oddities of first names. The USGenWeb Project, and Judy Henley Phillips', Nicknames and Naming Traditions, have also catalogued extensive lists of nicknames.

Because a mother's maiden name was sometimes given as a child's middle name, you can use this as a clue in your searches. Unusual, reoccuring first names are also clues. Christine Biship Smith has created a site, First Name Basis, that can link you to others searching these unusual names.

The Norwegians gave a confusing twist to last/first names, but Johan I. Borgos, at Norwegian Naming Patterns, can help you sort this out. For a translation of Dutch/Frisian names, see another page in the USGenWeb Project. Charles F. Kerchner, Jr., provides in-depth information on 18th Century German Naming Customs. A good site for everyone to look at to see how complicated naming patterns can become.

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