Naming two children in the same family with the same name

[KATE1001]

Hi

I know if a child passes away it was custom to name the next child by the same christian name, but is there any other circumstances where two children in the same family would be given the same christian name?

Regards

Kate

[mshrmh]

Different mother, same father? I've found ones where the man married first wife, had daughter named after her - wife number 1 dies & he married number 2 who has same first name - she then has daughter named after her (ie same name as first wife & her daughter also) - very confusing unless you spot the change in wives!

[myluck!]

I have come across it a few times in various ways

Where the exact same name was given to two sons, it must have been confusing in later life!

There is also a family where the father married twice and the eldest son in each family is the same name.

I have several examples of siblings named; Mary Anne, Mary Jane, Mary Elizabeth, Mary Agnes etc. and you can only imagine that they either used just the second name or the combination always.

I believe that there was some legality around leases and contracts many years ago and that it was necessary to have a son of the same name to continue on which meant people named sons in this way - I am open to correction on this but I have a vague memory of reading this at one time

[maggbill]

Hi Kate,

Not sure if these comments will be helpful, or will confuse more !!

One branch of my tree has a large family - and two of the "daughters" seem to have the same name - even though the older child lives well into maturity.  First one named Elizabeth - another child born 14 years later, alternates between using the names Elizabeth and Lily.  No apparent logic to it - she marries twice - uses Elizabeth for first marriage, Lily for second - for a daughter's birth and death details she names herself as "Elizabeth" then "Lily" and so on, throughout her life.

The most mystifying thing is that we have absolutely failed to find a birth record for her - under either Elizabeth or Lily !!!!!

After tying myself in knots, I have come to the thought that this second "Elizabeth" could actually have been the child of the first one, who would have been about 14 years old - and that she could have been adopted by the grandparents as their own child?  The first Elizabeth then goes on later to marriage and a family of her own - including a first child who she then names Elizabeth !!!

Nothing like confusing the issue eh?  I really can't figure out any other reason for naming two living children with the exact same name...  Good luck - hope you find the solution.

[KATE1001]

Many thanks mshrmh, Myluck & Magghill for your replies

I first came across two children with the same Christian names in my paternal grandparent's families.  My grandmother was named after her sister who passed away two years before she was born and my  grandfather's eldest and youngest brothers both had the name Thomas, I thought one may have been named after his grandfather and the other after his father who were both named Thomas, but I am not sure about that.  I have now come across it again in Mum's family, there was a match on the Myheritage website with one of my grandmother's first cousins, the month and the year of birth, father's and mother's names and the place in Cork where they lived all matched but the person I thought it was married someone different and when I checked the Census again, their was a difference of 9 years in their ages.  So the only conclusion I could come to was that two daughters where given the same name.  Pleased to hear that it wasn't an unusual occurrence.

[gaffy]

I have another example from my own tree, two siblings a couple of years apart called William (no second name).

It was passed down anecdotally that one was specifically named after one of the grandfathers, the other after the other grandfather.  Both grandfathers happened to be called William.

[KATE1001]

Many thanks gaffy for you input

Kate

[behindthefrogs]

It was the tradition in Roman Catholic familes to name children after the saint whose day fell nearest to their birth/baptism.  This resulted not only in children in a family having the same names but also boys with girls' names (and occasionally girls with boys' names).

[myluck!]

When I was growing up there was a man named Polly; he was a lovely old man and it was always assumed his name was a nickname until he died, at least I only found out when he died and it was mentioned at the funeral
He had been named Polycarp as he was born on the feast of St. Polycarp!