Scotland and Scottish Ancestry

Comment

Comment by Judy Anderson on March 7, 2012 at 12:37pm

More than likely, Jr. was named after his grandfather, like his father before him.  My grandmother, which I found interesting, named her children after her sisters, but they in turn had been named by the "Naming Patter" firstly. Interesting and very helpful, though.

Comment by Judy Anderson on March 7, 2012 at 12:35pm

http://usefulenglish.ru/vocabulary/womens-names

This is a great link .  My mistake below.

My Gr. Aunt was MARY ANN, and her nickname was POLLY.  If you check this site out, and on another page is men's Nicknames, you will see a huge variance. It is very helpful. I think they used nicknames a lot, because of the naming pattern and so many in the family with the same name. I wish they had been more inventive.  It is great, when I see the name Barbara, once in a while, so much more helpful, than 10 James, 10 Williams, 10 Margarets etc. etc.

Yes, MOLLIE is one of the nicknames, used for Margaret. 

Comment by Tracy Neely on March 7, 2012 at 12:32pm

I am saying Junior lightly meaning that the second child is usually named after the father.

Comment by Tracy Neely on March 7, 2012 at 12:29pm

I understand what you mean. There are so many Thomases and Johns in my family tree  that it is hard to distinguish who  belongs to whom. Recently, I think that I found one of my great great grandfather's sisters but instead of going by the name I had seen on the census which was Mary Jane, She was using the name Mollie.  Her death certificate said Mollie Neely Daffron. She was in 1910 widowed, running a boarding house and keeping her nephew's children in New Orleans. Do you know if Mollie is a nickname for anything?

Comment by Judy Anderson on March 7, 2012 at 12:21pm

This is true,even to today, a lot of the times, in Quebec, Canada, also. 

Yes, that is the list that I have been using for years.  Good that you posted it.  I was just looking for it myself to post. You are right, it does occur in many still, and very helpful looking for siblings, etc. 

Comment by Diane Barbour on March 7, 2012 at 12:18pm

The usual Scottish naming pattern is this:

1st son Paternal Grandfather

2nd son Maternal Grandfather

3rd son, Father

1st girl Maternal Grandmother

2nd girl Paternal Grandmother

3rd girl Mother

This isn't strictly held to in all families but does occur in many.

Women traditionally did not give up their maiden names in Scotland, This is true in many other European countries, as well..

Comment by Judy Anderson on March 7, 2012 at 12:13pm

Yes, and the first female child was usually named after the maternal grandmother. So, when doing research, if there is a child missing, sometimes, it is easy to figure out who is who.  But, on the other hand, I have not seen Jr. used. A lot of times, which makes it more confusing, is the child used their middle name to go by. Or a "nickname". Margaret, in my family was "Polly".  

  The one thing, though, at least in my family, all of the children use that naming pattern.  So, imagine, if you go to a family gathering, someone calls out James, and 10 people answer "Yes".  Another sad thing, that I have seen many times, in the "older" days, if a child was born illegitimate, that "title" was carried through on their marriage cert. and even on their death cert. Scottish birth, marriage and death cert. are wonderful for records.  If a child is born, usually, if the parents are married, it states their marriage date, and also many records have not just the individuals but their parents and their parents occupations and witnesses. So helpful when researching and also many have witnesses, which a lot of times, are siblings or close relatives. I wish the English documents were so detailed.

Comment by Christopher J. Valin on March 7, 2012 at 9:53am

While doing my research I came across this quite a bit, William. For example, all references to Sir Charles Douglas' mother (that I can remember) call her Christian Hepburn rather than Christian Douglas. Some sources I read said that this was the norm in Scotland (at least in the Lowlands) up until about the 17th Century, and that it was done on headstones and in legal documents after that. However, I read one article from 1867 that said that women in Scotland do not retain their maiden names, so the change happened somewhere in between.

Comment by Tracy Neely on March 7, 2012 at 9:49am

I have read also that when naming children, the oldest son is usually named for the paternal grandfather and the second son is actually the junior. While this is not always the case, if a family is actually doing this, it can give good clues as to where to go for more information.

Comment by Dave Watts on March 7, 2012 at 9:45am

Yes it is true! And they carried the convention all over the English speaking world. Here in Cape Town I se this every time I go off to the Cemetaries to Photographicaly record the headstones for a South African Website. Very practical people my Mothers side. Make excellent Lawyers and Engeneers!

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