Handy hint for finding ancestors' first names

[Keith Livingstone Australia]

I got this handy hint from a book called " How to Trace Your Family Tree in England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales" by Kathy Chater, Hermes House Publishers,ISBN 1-84309-974-8. So here it is (it's pretty true in my family so far, even indicating by deduction just where my ancestors were in the line of siblings..). UNDERSTANDING SCOTTISH FAMILY NAMES Before the 20th century, the Scots had a fairly standard pattern of naming children, which may give clues to the names of the grandparents: * eldest son was named after the paternal grandfather * 2nd son was named after the maternal grandfather * 3rd son was named after the father * eldest daughter was named after the maternal grandmother * 2nd daughter was named after the paternal grandmother * 3rd daughter was named after the mother It was also quite common to create girls' names by adding "a" or "ina" to a man's name, e.g. Jacoba, Jamesina, which in some cases seems to have been done when there weren't enough sons in the family to commemorate the male relatives.

[Andrew Lancaster5]

Dear Kevin A remark from an amateur without very much experience yet... Concerning any attempt to say that someone is related to someone else because of a naming tradition (including Dunslebhe etc): it should always be asked whether the names being taken as significant were not common generally at that time and/or place. This family I have been trying to trace in Angus looks promising because of what seems to be a naming pattern, but I am careful because the names are common to just about all families in that area at that time (David, Peter, Alexander, James, John etc). Unusual names are better. I once got stuck in a branch of my family tree until I worked out that one of the ancestors was named Zybiah - after that I could pretty much work out the inter-relations of a big group of families, who included just about the only people on the whole IGI with that name. Best Regards Andrew

[Michael Livingston]

Do you know if there was a naming tradition where a daughter would be named after her mother if the mother died giving birth to that child?

[Keith Livingstone Australia]

I have heard of such a tradition, yes, although the Young Bachuil would know for sure.

[Canadian Livingstone]

I have actually tested out that formula in the past with my Mother's Bryson family. Her great-great grandfather Samuel Bryson's eldest son was Robert and the second eldest was Thomas. I later found out from the records that Samuel's father was in fact Robert Bryson and his father in law Thomas Hoy. The formula has not always worked perfectly however on all Scottish families I am researching, but I agree it is worth trying it out and I do.