Kizmiaz
The tradition you speak of is almost the norm right up to the later part of the 19th Century.
My Furminger line come from Sussex and I have had very similar problems with them and the name Samuel Furminger, at one point I was convinced that every child, irrespective of sex was being called Samuel
, thats how confusing it got.
One thing to also bear in mind that if the first son should die, they may also then name any son born after with the fathers name.
Unfortunately there is no easy way, its as Jane says just a process of elimination. Pre 1837 Parishes records are your best option, its harder to track but with a lot of cross referencing and a little assumption you can start to link people together.
My best tip is to concentrate on your direct line first, as its very easy to side tracked on to branches and then you really start to get confused. Make plenty of notes of any family name you come accross, where you found the information and slowly you will start to see a pattern emerge.
The Sussex marriage index Jane offered lookups from is very useful pre 1837, although Jane gave me another 100 or so potential family members that I did not expect
but also solved a few frustrating problems.
Adrian
