Naming Order of Children

English and Welsh, 1700 - 1879.

First daughter - named after the mother's mother (maternal grandmother)

Second daughter - named after the mother's father's mother

Third daughter - named after the mother

Fourth daughter - named after the mother's oldest sister

First son - named after the father's father

Second son was named after the mother's father

Third son - named after the father

Fourth son - named after the father's eldest brother.

Exceptions apply if there was a duplication of a given name. In that

case the practice was to skip to the next name on the list.

Irish, 1800's.

First daughter - named after the paternal grandmother

Second daughter - named after the maternal grandmother

First son - named after the paternal grandfather,

Second son - named after the maternal grandfather

After that alternate names using the grandmothers', grandfather's;

mother's, aunt's and uncle's names. If a child died, that name was to

be recycled with a future child.

Scottish, 1700 to 1800's.

First daughter - named for maternal grandmother

Second daughter - named for paternal grandmother

Third daughter - named after her mother

Other daughters were named after other family members

First son - named after paternal grandfather

Second son - named after maternal grandfather

Third son - named after his father

This policy holds true unless one family member had more assets or a

higher social standing than the other. One unique aspect of Scottish

naming was that if two grandmothers or two grandfathers had the same

given name, two children in the same family would end up with the same

name. Another practice was to name daughters after the clergyman or

other important male figure.