Over the years I noticed patterns in New Englanders naming their children. Although these patterns may or may not hold true (note: I have not done the research on this idea), I have found this theory to be helpful to me as I search for missing family members. Even today we may choose a first name we love, then very often, we choose a family name for the middle name.
Understanding naming conventions over time can be very helpful in your research, what was a popular name at a certain time, and how and why people selected certain names, can be very assist you as your own family tree. For instance, when we think of Lindas, Donnas and Karens we know they were popular 1950s/1960s names, and Shirleys were from the 1930s, and who recalls the book Beyond Jennifer & Jason from the 1980s? (This Social Security site keeps track of these popular names). Yes, names come in and out of fashion, and knowing these fashionable names may help in pinpointing a relative.
Three hundred years ago, in New England (and perhaps other geographical areas) your first six children’s names had already been decided long before they were even born! They would have been named after parents (2) and grandparents (4), the following children could have been named after a parent’s sibling, or perhaps a nice Biblical name might have been chosen. It should also be noted that if a couple had a child that died, the next child may be given its dead sibling’s name, and if that child died, parents may name a third child with the same name.
Around 1800, people began to choose a popular name for their babies. “George Washington” was a very popular name at that time! Around 1830, giving your child a middle name became popular. Before this time, those children who received a middle name were often named after someone. In my family, Abby Butler Hubbard (1812-1898) was named after her mother Abigail Butler (1773-1862). Abigail Butler and her husband Zadoc Hubbard had ten children between 1795 and 1812, their first four did not have middle names and the other six were named after someone and therefore had middle names.
It is also important to have an understanding of nicknames. Sure we know names like Sue is a nickname for Susan, but so is Suky. Did you know Patty is a nickname for Martha? I bet you didn’t! I bet you thought is was for Patricia!
At one time, it was popular to play a rhyming name game….
- William’s nickname was Will…then it was rhymed and became Bill
- Robert’s nickname was Rob…then it was rhymed and became Bob
- Mary’s nickname was Molly…then it was rhymed and became Polly
- Martha’s nickname was Matty…then it was rhymed and became Patty
Hopefully, you can see how this sort of works (of course there are many nicknames that are simply are abbreviations of a longer name…Abigail -> Abby; Susan -> Sue; Etc) but if you are aware of these nicknames name changes, you may be able to locate Cate as Catherine.
And you should also beware that often when people came to the United States from other countries they changed their name to an American sounding one…Franz became Frank.
Keep your Spidey-sense up regarding naming conventions, patterns, nicknames and new American names, as you are building your family tree. It may help you to break down a brick wall!
Laurie L. Kearney 