I subscribe to Family History Daily, which has articles about all kinds of aspects of genealogical research. Today's article is about naming patterns, telling us that there are clues in first names regarding our ancestors, based on the naming patterns of their native region, influenced by factors such as religion.
They left out middle names. I have found that middle names often have more of the story than first names.
Example: My first name, Karen, has no connection to any ancestors. I was given that name in honor of a character in a novel my mother was reading during her pregnancy with me. I was saddled with the middle name LeSueur, and that name and I suffered greatly in my childhood from the cruelty of other children. I was called "sewer rat" and likened to a can of a particular brand of peas (which I love). Yeah, I love the peas. I didn't love the comparison. But, as often happens in genealogy, learning the story behind the name will often soften any negative feelings about it. My middle name was also the middle name of a granduncle of mine, Wilmer LeSueur Reed. Wilmer died in infancy, of an acute gastritis, according to his death certificate. One of the items in my grandmother's cedar chest, which I inherited, was a photo of little Wilmer. I have it on one of my bookcases. Knowing that sad story, as told to me by my grandma, made me feel more agreeable toward the name.
My husband's first name and middle name have reference to ancestors. His first name is Marshall. Marshall was the surname of his great-grandfather, who fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War. That puts my husband on the other side from me, as I have two great grandfathers who fought on the Union side. Marshall became a middle name for my father-in-law, Leonard Marshall Rhodes. The name Leonard also has significance, though not a family connection. My husband's great grandfather's physician was named Leonard Henley, and was so close to the family he is buried in the Marshall family plot. Marshall became my husband's first name, and has since migrated back to being a middle name, that of our grandson. My husband's middle name is Keys, a name that came from his father's favorite uncle, Richard Keys Russell.
One may not find a family-name connection to an ancestor's name, but a connection, perhaps, to a parent's or an ancestor's occupation. My father was named Arden Packard. He had no middle name. The name Arden was intended as a placeholder, because his father wanted to bestow his own name on my father. His name was Walter Hetherington Packard. Grandma Packard put the kibosh on that, as they already had a son named Walter, my father's older brother. Young Walter's middle name had a family connection, by the way. His middle name was Reynolds, which was Grandma Packard's maiden name. So, no more Walters in the Packard family at that time. My grandfather agreed to a renegotiation of the name at a future date, and wrote a temporary name on the birth certificate: Arden, naming his new son after the city-owned dairy at which he was the superintendent. The name Arden has remained in the family, with namesakes both male and female, including my brother, the son of a nephew, and a granddaughter of a cousin.
Wilmer LeSueur Reed
