Scottish naming

[2shea]

I am researching Andrew Falconer Good born 1898 somewhere in Scotland but interested in his second name Falconer. Can someone remind me of how the naming rights go. Would this be his mother's mother's maiden name or could it be his father's name ie there is no father named on the birth certificate.

Thanks

2shea

[aghadowey]

The traditional naming pattern is first son after father's father, second after mother's father, third after father, etc. However, many, many families diod not use this as a way of choosing children's names so you can't make any assumptions.
When surnames are used in a name they can be for a variety of reasons. In this case the father may have been Falconer but it's equally possible Falconer may be the grandmother's maiden name or the name of a great-granny, local minister, doctor, schoolteacher, landlord...

[sancti]

How can you be sure that the father is not named on the birth certificate?

[aghadowey]

According to this thread-
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,481373.msg3400934.html#msg3400934

I am trying to trace Andrew Falconer Good born about 1898 somewhere in Scotland. Family stories say there is no father's name on his birth certificate but his mother may have been a servant working at a big house. 

Someone has kindly posted a possible birth which can easily be downloaded from Scotland's People website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk).

[sancti]

Any mention of the mother's name?

[RJ_Paton]

There are a number of possible scenarios for the name usage and it may be advisable to look at the births found, if only to eliminate them from your enquiry.

Andrew Falconer Good

1. If parents married then the middle name can be  the mothers maiden name (but not always)
2. If unmarried and not acknowledged the mother may have given him the fathers surname as a middle name.
3. His mother remarries  and he takes on the names from both marriages
4. In later life he simply likes the name and uses it.
5. It's added to keep in with a distant family connection for inheritance purposes

There are probably many other reasons to account for the use of a name and there is no set "tradition" and even if there was as in the forename pattern the families were not obliged to follow it.

[2shea]

It certainly gets complicated.  Just in the process of getting the birth certificate - a family member has it tucked away in a "safe place" but may also try the website mentioned. I need the mothers name so will work on the birth certificate. The census has been looked at for 1901 but I think that Andrew may have come to NZ  early in life  as he enlisted in the NZ army for WW1.

Thanks for all the handy hints -  one of them will be right - just need some more info now to sort it out.

Cheers

2shea