Friday, October 3, 2008

Old Irish Naming Patterns 1700-1875


Nowadays, parents who lose a child by death are not inclined to use its name for a subsequent child, but this is a comparatively recent development.

SONS
1st son was named after the father's father
2nd son was named after the mother's father
3rd son was named after the father
4th son was named after the father's eldest brother
5th son was named after the mother's eldest brother

DAUGHTERS
1st daughter was named after the mother's mother
2nd daughter was named after the father's mother
3rd daughter was named after the mother
4th daughter was named after the mother's eldest sister
5th daughter was named after the father's eldest sister

A break in the naming pattern could be caused by death. A century or so ago it was not unusual for at least half the children to die in infancy. If a child died young their name was then used for the next child of the same sex, thereby keeping the name of the relative who they were "named for".

But what if the naming system produced a duplication of names? In that case, the name was taken from the next on the list. For example, if the eldest son was named John after the father's father, and the mother's father was also John, the second son could not be named after him and was, therefore, named after the father!

If the father remarried after his first wife died, the first daughter born to this new marriage was often named after the deceased wife and included her whole name.

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