Naming a baby can give you clues to all sorts things about your ancestors. Time of birth [Christmas or Easter perhaps], religion, hobbies, the place of birth, for maternal or paternal grandparents, and for the royal family. Modern day babies may be named for the star of a hit television show, or the father’s favourite footballer. This style of naming choice is not new. Finn, meaning fair, or white, originates from Fionn mac Cumhaill [below], the mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology. It can give you a clue to the geographical area your baby was born, the time, class and lifestyle.

Names can be traced in families through the generations, not only first names but sometimes a mother’s maiden name too. Many second names amongst 19^thcentury gentry were the mother’s maiden name, it was a way of keeping a surname alive if the male line died out. At least ten American presidents have their mother’s maiden name as a middle name. Sometimes this led to the use double-barrelled surnames; in the 18^thand 19^thcenturies, the mothers of illegitimate children would give them their father’s full name and their own surname. So if one of your relatives from that time has a surname for a middle name, it is likely he was illegitimate.

Names go in and out of fashion, and this is another useful way of pinpointing lifestyle and culture. At the start of the 18th century, the upper class starting to use Latin names such as Horatio. They also Latinised English names, turning Joan into Joanna, Maude into Matilda, and Anne into Anna. These names then trickled down through the classes. It was at this time also that the upper classes started to use French girls’ names, often those which are feminised versions of boys’ names, for example, Jacqueline, Charlotte and Christine. The name Albert has been popular for 80 years, becoming popular in 1840 on the marriage of Princess Victoria to Prince Albert [below].

Until 1900, the most popular baby names remained static. In 1700, and again in 1850, the top ten included William, John, Thomas, Mary, Anne and Elizabeth. Fashions came and went according to the names chosen by famous people, who was in the news, and the current novel being read. So, Sir Walter Scott’s novels caused a rise in the choices of Waverley and Flora. Alice was popular after being chosen by Queen Victoria for her daughter. Clarissa has a long literary history, featuring as a name in the novels of Samuel Richardson, Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf [below].

Names can also give clues about geographical location of families, or a significant event in your ancestor’s life. If they disappear from records, it could be worth following a lead suggested by a name. Isla, for example, is named for the Scottish river Isla [below] and the Scottish island Islay. If this name appears in a previously-thought non-Scottish family, it could be worth searching records north of the border.

If you want to know more about the meaning of an ancestor’s first name, try the British Baby Names website which in its ‘Name Data’ tab has lists of names by year based on original records. Another useful site is Nameberry, its Namehunter feature allows you to search for a particular name and read its history.

This post is inspired by an article by Ed Dutton  in the July 2017 issue of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ magazine.

If you want to read more about family history research, try these articles:-
Searching the #DeceasedOnline database of #graveyards
Find missing births
Did your relative work in a pub? 

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Understanding your relatives’ #babyname choices #genealogy https://wp.me/paZ3MX-72 via #AdoptionStoriesBlog