What’sinaName?HANDOUTAndreaPatterson,RVGSVolunteer.
GOAL:Toanalyzeandthink.Don’ttrustallgeneralizations;Knowtherecordyou’reviewing.Isit
alegaldocument,censusororiginalBibleentry?LearntheCulturalnamingpatternsofyour
countryofinterest.
SPELLING:Listentothepronunciationandsearchfordifferentsoundingsurnamesaswellas
differentspellingsinindexes.RULE:“Getoverhowyouthinkitshouldbespelled.”
BOOKS:Lookhowabookwascompiled;theremaybemorethanoneindex!
HANDWRITING:SearchotherpagesinacensusrecordtolearnhowtheEnumeratorformed
capitalletters,orusedabbreviations.Becautiousoftheuseofdoubless’s,oftenmistakenforf’s.
NAMINGPATTERNS:Someofthemostcommon,butnohardfastrulesapply.
BRITISHISLES[includesIreland;Wales]
Thefirstsonwasnamedafterthefather’sfather
Thesecondsonwasnamedafterthemother’sfather
Thethirdsonwasnamedafterthefather
Thefourthsonwasnamedafterthefather’seldestbrother
Thefirstdaughterafterthemother’smother
Theseconddaughterafterthefather’smother
Thethirddaughterafterthemother
Thefourthdaughterafterthemother’seldestsister
IRISH:followedthissameschemewith:
Thefifthsontypicallynamedafterthefather’ssecond-eldestbrotheror
mother’seldestbrother.
Afifthdaughtermightbechristenedafterthemother’ssecond-eldestsister
orthefather’seldestsister.
SCOTTISH:followedthissamepattern,withtheparents’namesskippedforthe
thirdsonordaughtergoingrighttothegrandparents.
FRENCH&FRENCHCANADIAN
SimilarnamingpatterntotheBritish
Deceasedgrandparentsgotprecedence
Mostchildrenweregivenhyphenatedfirstnamesinhonorofpatronsaints
Google:PatronsaintsforFrenchCatholics
Boys:Pierre-Marie(afemalesaint)
Girls:Marie-CatherineinhonoroftheHolyFamily.
SPANISH&MEXICAN
InHispanicfamilies,manyofthesenamingtraditionscombine.
Atbaptismachildmightbegivenoneortwoextranames,asaint’sname
associatedwiththebaptismaldayandthepriestoftenaddedtothename.
Google:ListofMexicanSaintsatWikipedia
CZECH:http://usgenweb.org/research/czech-names.shtml
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GERMAN&DUTCHhttp://usgenweb.org/research/names.shtml#german
http://usgenweb.org/research/dutch-names.shtml
Oftentheareadictatedthenamingofchildren,butresearchersconcurthatmost
GermansdidNOTadheretoanynamingtraditions.Considerthese
generalizations:
Giventheprevalenceofinfantmortality,namesgenerallyrecycled.Alarge
familythathastwochildrenofthesamenamecouldtellyouthatthefirst
childdiedbeforethe2ndchildwasbornorthatthenamehasgreat
significancetothefamily.
TheDutchgenerallynamedoffspringforthegrandparents
Inafamilyofalldaughters,feminizedversionsofagrandfather’sname
wascommon:WilheminaorHendrika
OthergroupssuchasthePalatineswhomigratedtoNewYorkStateinthe
early1700’s(theymingledwiththeDutch)andthosefromNWGermany
focusedongrandparents
“German’stendedtonametheirchildrenafterthemselves”[ArtaF.Johnson]
PennsylvaniaGermansettlements:3namingpatternsidentified
o Britishschemeforthefirstthreesonsanddaughters
Aswitchtogreat-grandparentsor4-7thofeachgender
o Secondpatternissameasaboveforboys,butswitchesprecedencefor
daughtersnaming#4afterthemother’spaternalgrandmother.
o AThirdpatterninsertstheparents’eldestsiblingsinpositionthreeBEFORE
theparents.
BothDutchandGermanfamiliestypicallygavechildrentwoChristiannames,a
firstnameandacallingname.Thefirstname(&fullname)givenatbaptismwould
beonchurchrecords,deeds.Typicallynamedinhonorofafavoritesaint.The
middleorsecondnameforanythingelse.JohannGeorg,JohannJacobandJohann
Michaelmightbethefirstthreesons.Lookforanicknamecombination:Hansis
nicknameforJohann,thusHansJacob!
***CENSUS?Probablythefamiliarnametothefamilyornickname.
WilhelmConradMiller.MariaWilhelminaorMina,MinnieorWilma.Adding“in”
or“en”totheendofanameoftendenotedanunmarriedfemale.{i.e.,Hetzelin}
Dutchparentsfrequentlychooseathirdnameforeveryday!
MENONITES
o FirsttwosonsnamedaftertheGrandfathers;girls:Grandmothers
CHINESE
Namesarealmostalwaysone-syllablewordsoftentakenafterthenameofanoldruling
family.
JAPANESE:Morerecentlynamesarecreatedoutoftwounrelated,butoftenpoeticwords.
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ITALIAN
Thefirstsonwasnamedafterthefather’sfather
Thesecondsonwasnamedafterthemother’sfather
Thethirdsonwasnamedafterthefather
Thefirstdaughterafterthefather’smother
Theseconddaughterafterthemother’smother
Thethirddaughterafterthemother
Again,patronsaintsplayedamajorroleinnamingpatterns.Ifyouknowofa
celebrationofasaintinyourancestralfamily,consideritapromisingmentionand
researchthesainttolocateyourancestralvillage.Forexample,Neapolitans
honorSt.Gennaro;SiciliansfromPalermolaudSt.RossiliaandinTorino,Johnthe
Baptistrules.www.catholicforum.com/saints/patronnf.htm
Necronymics:AlsousedbyItalianstohonoradeceasedsibling.
POLISH
Catholicparentstypicallynamedtheirchildrenafterthesaintwhosefeast
dayfellclosetothechild’sbirthorbaptismaldate.i.e.,aboyborninearly
AugustmightbenamedforSaintDominicwhosefeastdayistraditionally
celebratedAug.4th.ForalistofcommonPolishfirstnamesandtheir
associatedsaints’dayssee:
<rootsweb.ancestry.com/~polwgw/namellist.html#polish>
RUSSIANandUKRAINIAN
SimilarnamingpatterntothePolish,butnamedforsaintsontheByzantine
calendarwhichdifferedfromtheRomanCatholicfeastdays.Seewebsites:
<rootsweb.ancestry.com/~polwgw/namelist.html#ukrainian>Ukraine
www.behindthename.com/namedays/lists/rus.phpRussian
HUNGARIAN
Immigrantsoftenchangedtheirnames….spellingwasdifficult
Hungariansusuallyhavejustonegivenname
BEWARE:theirfamilynameusuallycomesbeforethegivenname
Szabó Mihály is Michael Taylor. Szabó is Hungarian for tailor. Mihály is Michael
JEWISH
InEasternEurope,JewishnamingtraditionsdifferedfromtheirChristian
neighbors.
Birthnameswereassignedonthe8thdayafterbirth.
Namedforancestors,butwithnohardfastrule.AshkenazicJewishchildrenwere
nevernamedforalivingancestor.
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SCANDINAVIAN
Patronymicsurnamesystemlastedlateintothe19th&20thcenturies.
LovisaMarieJohannesdottar………..FatherisJohannesBengtsson
LarsHansson………………………………..FatherisHansPederson
Swedish:Lookfor“on”.Danish:Lookfor“en”.
Thefirstsonwasnamedafterthefather’sfather
Thesecondsonwasnamedafterthemother’sfather
Thethirdsonwasnamedafterthefather
Thefirstdaughterafterthemother’smother
Theseconddaughterafterthefather’smother
Thethirddaughterafterthemother
BIBLICALNAMES:Verycommon.Mayholdsignificanceofthefamily’sfaith.
NAMECHANGES:NotatEllisIsland!Thereweremanyreasonsforanimmigrant
tochangetheirownname.
WESTERNNAMES:Mostcomefrom4categories.
1. PlaceNames.i.e.,SouthernersusedJeffersonDavis;AndrewJackson.Name
ofthefarmfromadistantland
2. Patronymics.Thefather’sgivennamewith“son”or“s”or“dotter”added
3. Occupation:Whatapersondidforaliving.Oftenbeganinmedievaltimes.
4. Nicknames:Basedonaperson’scharacteristics,personalityorappearance.
NATIVEAMERICAN:
Fewsurnamesuntilearlyfrontiertimes.Learnthetribefirst.
http://names.mongabay.com/data/indians.html[Nativesurnames]
SOURCES&REFERENCES:
TheUSGENWEBProjecthttp://usgenweb.org/research/names.shtmlInformationonNames
NICKNAMES:http://usgenweb.org/research/nicknames.shtml#top
Dutch/Frisian:Nicknames,Past&Present;ChristineRose;4thEd.
ORIGINS/SURNAMES:http://forebears.io/surnames
ELLISISLAND:
www.Smithsonianmag.com
SPANISHNAMES:
Gosnell,Charles,SpanishPersonalNames:Principalsgoverningtheir
formation&Use,H.D.WilsonCo;1971
FamilySearch(http://www.familysearch.org/wiki
PATRONSAINTSwww.Catholic.org/saints/patron.php
CauchonName
LaForest,ThoJ.,OurFrenchCanadianAncestors,Vol.XV11,Sainte-Andre
BiographiesofAncestors,pg.46
Hornbeck,Shirley,“ThisandThatGenealogyTipsonNamingPractices.”
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hornbeck/naming.htm
POLISH
Rootsweb.ancestry.com/~polwgw/namelist.htm#polish
GERMAN
Beidler,James,The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Germanic
Ancestry. GOOGLE BOOKS
GENERAL
Johnson,ArtaF.,AGuidetotheSpelling&Pronunciations,1981
Smith,ElsdonC.,TheStoryofOurNames;HarperBrothers,1stEdition,1950
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