Colonial America Naming

[Ánleifr]

What was the most common method of naming children in Colonial America? Was the first son usually named after the father's father or after the father? Was the second son named after the father's father or the father? Was the third son named after the father's brother or after the mother's father?

[Allenson]

What was the most common method of naming children in Colonial America? Was the first son usually named after the father's father or after the father? Was the second son named after the father's father or the father? Was the third son named after the father's brother or after the mother's father?

Difficult question and one that I've looked into myself.

I don't think there's one hard and fast rule. It seems to have depended on the ethnic origins of the Colonials (English, Dutch, Scots, etc.) and also familial prefereces.

For example, Protestant Lowland Scots who settled here tended to name the first son after the father's father, second born after the mother's father, third for the father himself and after that, perhaps for uncles and other collaterals. The English, Dutch, German and other groups who came here all had their own characteristics for naming. The Puritan English are well known for their Old Testament derived names.

A few links for your reading pleasure--

English:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~mseifert/puritan14.html

Dutch:
http://corneliabush.blogspot.com/2010/09/dutch-naming-patterns.html

And this one has pages for English, Scots, Dutch, Irish, etc:
http://www.mengelfamily.com/naming/namingcolonial.htm

[Ánleifr]

Difficult question and one that I've looked into myself.

I don't think there's one hard and fast rule. It seems to have depended on the ethnic origins of the Colonials (English, Dutch, Scots, etc.) and also familial prefereces.

For example, Protestant Lowland Scots who settled here tended to name the first son after the father's father, second born after the mother's father, third for the father himself and after that, perhaps for uncles and other collaterals. The English, Dutch, German and other groups who came here all had their own characteristics for naming. The Puritan English are well known for their Old Testament derived names.

A few links for your reading pleasure--

English:
http://lonestar.texas.net/~mseifert/puritan14.html

Dutch:
http://corneliabush.blogspot.com/2010/09/dutch-naming-patterns.html

And this one has pages for English, Scots, Dutch, Irish, etc:
http://www.mengelfamily.com/naming/namingcolonial.htm

Thank you Allenson, right now I am interested in the English method of naming. I will check out the link you provided. Thanks!

[Odoacer]

According to this article (http://archive.suite101.com/article.cfm/colonial_america_retired/31156):


Up until the revolution, and sometimes until the 1850’s, most families of English descent (and the Scots who settled in North and South Carolina) followed the following naming pattern:

First-born son named for Father’s Father
Second-born son named for Mother’s Father
Third-born son named for Father
Fourth-born son named for Father’s eldest brother
First-born daughter named for Mother’s Mother
Second-born daughter named for Father’s Mother
Third-born daughter named for Mother
Fourth-born daughter named for Mother’s eldest sister

Any subsequent children where usually named for other ancestors.

But I'm not sure there were any hard & fast rules as such for determining given names. The given names in my genealogy do not follow this particular pattern with any consistency, & in fact the firstborn of each sex was quite often named for the corresponding parent. Another article (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hornbeck/naming.htm) gives this information:


In the early colonies, the law of primogeniture was in effect. It is an exclusive right of the eldest son to inherit the father's estate. To ensure that the eldest son inherited, in the event the father died intestate, the eldest son was generally given the same name as his father. The second son was often given the first name of one of his uncles, generally the father's oldest brother. Later, families devised their own system to ensure that their offspring inherited. ie., giving all children the same middle name, denoting the fact that all with that name could inherit, and not just the oldest son. ...

As stated above, the eldest son usually had the same name as his father, the second son, the first name of one of his uncles. (paternal usually, unless the father had no brothers, then a maternal uncle). The middle name was either his mother's maiden name, or grandmother's maiden name. Basically, as more children were born, more maiden names were used, but generally those in the direct line. Great grandmothers, great great grandmothers, etc. ...

Women's names follow the same practices as men's names, but generally follow the maternal line. The eldest daughter is often named for her maternal grandmother. Once again maiden names are often used as middle names. ...

Then the Puritans for example often weren't very traditional in their naming practices. And of course there were regional differences between New England & the Southern Colonies. Here are a few other articles that provide more information:

http://www.genealogy.com/35_donna.html
http://www.genfiles.com/legal/Namingpatterns.htm
http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/1stnames.htm
http://www.mengelfamily.com/naming/namingcolonial.htm

[Ánleifr]

According to this article (http://archive.suite101.com/article.cfm/colonial_america_retired/31156):



But I'm not sure there were any hard & fast rules as such for determining given names. The given names in my genealogy do not follow this particular pattern with any consistency, & in fact the firstborn of each sex was quite often named for the corresponding parent. Another article (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hornbeck/naming.htm) gives this information:



Then the Puritans for example often weren't very traditional in their naming practices. And of course there were regional differences between New England & the Southern Colonies. Here are a few other articles that provide more information:

http://www.genealogy.com/35_donna.html
http://www.genfiles.com/legal/Namingpatterns.htm
http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/1stnames.htm
http://www.mengelfamily.com/naming/namingcolonial.htm

Thank you. Yes, to more specific I am looking for naming practices in North Carolina in the 1700's, by this time it actually would not be specific to English as in 1700's North Carolina we at least 3 or 4 different groups settling and intermarrying between the English, Scots and Scots-Irish.

[Odoacer]

Thank you. Yes, to more specific I am looking for naming practices in North Carolina in the 1700's, by this time it actually would not be specific to English as in 1700's North Carolina we at least 3 or 4 different groups settling and intermarrying between the English, Scots and Scots-Irish.

Well, I can't comment much on that. I have one ancestor, a German, who emigrated to North Carolina in the 1750s, but the family soon went on to the Virginia frontier/Kentucky. You might find something on the website for the NC Genealogical Society (http://www.ncgenealogy.org) (I'm not able to access it right now for whatever reason).

[Flintlocke]

Kyle, Todd, and Tucker :D