The problem with relying too heavily on naming patterns is that, apart from the fact that not all families followed it, there are lots of things that can upset it. Common ones that I have encountered are when the father and either of the grandparents have the same name. So you obviously can’t have two or even three sons all with the same name, so a different name must be used instead; if a child dies young, then it was common practice to re-use the name. And if you don’t know about the death, your analysis of who they were named after could be completely wrong; Or if a close relative had just died and their name was used out of respect. I have also noticed that many families liked to name the odd child after the local Minister/Priest, schoolteacher or a relative with no children of their own. So for all these reasons, whilst tradition says, for example, that the 4th son was usually named after the father's eldest brother, it isn’t always so.
Agree with that but my paternal grandfather had sisters christened Mary Jane,Mary Anne and Mary Catherine(Kate).These were the actual names they used all their adult life.Must have been confusing calling those in for their dinner!!
Afraid my family on both sides were traditional Irish farmers who used and reused the same names with very little exception from generation to generation.Leaves it mighty hard at times when you combine the 3 or 4 most common surnames in their respective counties with a selection of christian names such as John,Patrick,James,Joseph,Mary,Elizabeth,Catherine,Anne,Margaret etc.
One thing that stands out is the fact that most families seem to have one "signature" christian name that seemed to be used a lot even amongst cousins.
In my family tree one family had a Jerome at least once in every generation for 100 years in every family whilst another had "Daniel" used a lot ,sometimes as a second name when an older brother had it as his given name.
Often wondered if people were aware of using this pattern or if its all just coincidence?
When I pointed it out to my own mother a few years ago as to how she christened us,she said it was just the names that sprang to mind at the time(early 1970's) as most people even at this stage were sticking to "traditional" "normal" names therefore choice was somewhat limited and it was prob. easier to just use the familar ones.
For example ,thinking about it now,every boy in my class was either named after his father or grandparents or had a brother who was.Same with the girls and it was only when it came to very large families(10 plus at that time) that an odd"different " name might be used and even then it was a rarity.
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