October 30, 2026
If you’re like me, delving into the minutiae of your family story fascinates you. One of my favorite “little” areas of research is naming patterns. The names our ancestors gave their children can help us break down brick walls and take family lines back multiple generations.
Unfortunately, the names our ancestors chose for their children can also be a source of frustration. Our ancestors, like parents today, sometimes chose names for their children that help tie generations together. Other times, they chose names that lead a researcher down rabbit holes that lead nowhere.
Most genealogists are aware of naming patterns. Usually naming patterns rely on a system that involves naming the first son after his paternal grandfather. The second son is named after his maternal grandfather. Subsequent sons are given the names of other family members such as uncles or cousins. Daughters follow a similar naming pattern using their grandmothers’ names.
Sometimes the patterns vary. For example, one of my ancestors named his first son Parshall Peter. Parshall was the baby’s paternal grandfather, and Peter was the child’s maternal grandfather.
Any of these patterns can be helpful in placing someone in the correct birth family. They are especially helpful if the family used unusual names. If they used common names such as John and Mary, it’s harder to pick out a pattern. What looks like a pattern might just be the result of someone using names that were popular.
Other times parents named their children after famous people. In the decades following the American Revolution, names of Patriots were commonly used. One of my great grand uncles named his sons George Washington Terry and Benjamin Franklin Terry.
The Terry Family had no connection to either the Washington or Franklin Families. In fact, my uncle’s Revolutionary War era grandfather was a Loyalist. He fought for the British and is well-known in Canadian history. My uncle himself was born in Canada. Despite fighting for the union in the Civil War, he never naturalized. It seems odd that he chose such patriotic names for his children.
Another common naming pattern involved using a mother’s maiden name as a child’s first name. Last names as first names were most often used for sons, but sometimes daughters received them as well. These surname first names often were passed down in families for generations, so it may take some research to figure out exactly where the name originated.
One of my husband’s ancestors was named Bagwell Topping. When I researched the Topping’s, I couldn’t find any connection to the Bagwell Family. Eventually, I learned that my husband’s ancestor inherited his name from his mother’s younger brother. The brother had died young, and she wanted to memorialize him. So far that hasn’t led me to a connection to the Bagwell Family, but maybe someday.
Digging into names can be fascinating, but it’s important to remember that names are only clues. They don’t prove anything. It takes further research into a family to verify the reasons, or lack of reasons, that someone chose the name they did.
Carol Stetser
Researcher
Larimer County Genealogical Society