At first, it was frustrating seeing all these children named after parents, grand parents, etc, getting confused. Is this Jr., Sr., Uncle, Cousin, etc. I had one instance on my husband's Hilke line. I was trying to trace Otto Hilke, Mark's great grandpa. You would think that since it is a pretty unique name, it wouldn't be hard to trace. Well would you believe there were actually two men named Otto Hilke, around the same age in the same area in the late 1800s? Oh yes. The main difference was the parents. But which Otto was our Otto? Some people had one set of parents attached, while other had another set. Attached. The only census I had to check it against was the 1880 census. In the 1900s census, his parents had already been dead and he had been a boarder at someone else's house. Long story short, I was able to determine who his parents were & trace it back. Then I learned that both Otto Hilke's were actually cousins. So they were related, but as you can see, it would have really been bad if I hadn't researched deeply which parents were his.
This was just one instance that was frustrating and confusing. It is a long standing joke in the genealogy community about naming children after parents and grandparents and doing it only to frustrate future genealogists. Other naming trends included giving a child a middle name that was maiden surname of the mother; naming a child after a grandfather; naming a child after a friend; naming a child after a deceased relative; along with other instances. It was only after researching a few lines, I started to understand more why this was done. Well maybe not in every instance, but it did open up my eyes to something I never considered.
The first time I really started to understand a "Namesake" was on my husband's Rickards' line. His 2nd great grandpa was Joseph Henry Rickards. (Click here to read about him). He and his first wife, Eliza, had a child, Maggie Jones Rickards. The name Jones came from Eliza's brother-in-law's last name. They were very close to her sister Amelia and her husband James. Sadly, Maggie and Eliza both passed away. Then Joseph married Sarah, we believe to be a cousin of Eliza's. They had three children: Paul Jones, Mary Amelia, and Francis Henry. Again the name of Jones was used to honor the Jones family, but as you see, they also used Amelia, after Eliza's sister. I'd never seen this before in my research. Usually it was after a parent or a grand parents. Which they also included with Francis Henry. Henry was the father of Joseph and his own middle name.
I'd never really considered this before. They were so close to the Jones family, they showed their love for them by naming their children after them. How beautiful! It really opened up my eyes. This wasn't a case of parents forcing their children to name their children after them. This wasn't the only case I came across in my tree. This next instance is more close to home.
My grandma on my dad's side of the family was an amazing woman. At least that's what I'm told. I never had the opportunity to meet her as she passed away two years before I was born. She died from cancer caused by asbestos, as it is also known as Mesothelioma. She was taken from the family way to too early. She was the glue that held everyone together. Her name was Ann Louise, so in her honor, a few of us cousins were named after her. My cousin Katie has the middle name of Ann, my other cousin has her full name of Anna Louise, and my middle name is Ann. It never used to mean much to me before, but now I can say, I am blessed to be named after such a special lady.
When I named my daughter, I wanted a completely unique name with a special meaning, so I chose Sancia Anastasia, which means Sacred Resurrection. Now after learning more, I wish I incorporated a family name in it. But Anastasia is very close to Ann, so it's somewhat connected. But what's most important is passing on the family stories, so they never die. Just like a name, they will live on forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment