Our ancestors seemed to have loved reusing names. For us, many many years later, it can be enough to yank your hair out to have discovered that you\’ve traced back to yet another John, James, Mary, or Margaret. Middle names become very important. My own two middle names are from one paternal great grandmother, and one maternal great grandmother.
If you have a strong heritage to a particular country, your family may have followed a long standing naming tradition for first names. On the surface it may seem frustrating, but there are some great clues in these traditions that can help you establish another generation back.
French Canadian Naming Patterns
These can be confusing, without throwing in \”dit\” names. That\’s a whole blog post in itself. Usually a child would have three names
- First name: Joseph or Marie, depending on the sex of the child
- Second name: name of Godfather or Godmother, depending on the sex of the child
- Third name: the name they were generally known by
Scottish Naming Patterns
According to FindMyPast\’s blog post, they were actually two different traditional naming patterns people followed. They caution that not everyone used the naming traditions.
The first pattern for boys was:
- First son: father\’s father
- Second son: mother\’s father
- Third son: father
- Fourth son: father\’s eldest brother, or father\’s paternal grandfather
- Fifth son: mother\’s eldest brother, or mother\’s paternal grandfather
- First daughter: mother\’s mother
- Second daughter: father\’s mother
- Third daughter: mother
- Fourth daughter: mother\’s eldest sister, or mother\’s maternal grandmother
- Fifth daughter: named after father\’s eldest sister, or father\’s maternal grandmother
- First son: father\’s father
- Second son: mother\’s father
- Third son: father
- Fourth son: father\’s eldest brother
- Fifth son: father\’s second eldest brother, or mother\’s eldest brother
- First daughter: mother\’s mother
- Second daughter: father\’s mother
- Third daughter: mother
- Fourth daughter: mother\’s eldest sister
- Fifth daughter: mother\’s second eldest sister, or father\’s eldest sister
- First son: father\’s father
- Second son: mother\’s father
- Third son: father
- Fourth son: father\’s paternal grandfather
- Fifth son: mother\’s paternal grandfather
- Sixth son: father\’s maternal grandfather
- Seventh son: mother\’s maternal grandfather
- First daughter: mother\’s mother
- Second daughter: father\’s mother
- Third daughter: mother
- Fourth daughter: father\’s paternal grandmother
- Fifth daughter: mother\’s paternal grandmother
- Sixth daughter: father\’s maternal grandmother
- Seventh daughter: mother\’s maternal grandmother
- First name: name they are called by
- Middle name: (father\’s name) with the suffix \”ovych\” or \”yovych\”
- First name: name they are called by
- Middle name: (father\’s name) with the suffix \”ivna\” or \”yivna\”
Now keep in mind that not everyone stuck to ethnic naming patterns. Some families tended to have their own unique versions. I\’ve seen traditions where a son\’s middle name was a father\’s first name. But if you\’re lucky enough to see a pattern develop, it can give you some great clues on getting another generation back.
Finding Your Canadian Story 
Great post Candice! Will come back to this page many times.
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Thanks so much Penny!
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Interesting – our family (and I suspect we are not alone) had a habit of calling the children by their middle name – and 'forgetting' the first name although it usually appeared on the birth certificate.
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Yes you are not alone. It wasn't until I started doing my own family history that I realized that the names I've always known my maternal aunts and uncles by were actually their middle names 😀
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In Sicily it get ridiculous when the male and female names are all but identical. My ancestry is swamped by Sebastianos/Sebastianas, Giovannis/Giovannas and Giuseppes/Giuseppas. And whether they are first or second name doesn't seem to matter either.
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That would be enough to make you pull your hair out!
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The Dutch naming pattern, at least for parts of the Netherlands, is similar to the German pattern posted here.
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Thanks for the tip! I've found a lot of similarities between the European countries. Each one seems to tweak it a little to make it their own.
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