Middle name 'Shepherd'

[Mark Harris]

My mums dad was called Edward Shepherd Morrell, as was his dad and his dad before him. They originally came from South Derbyshire and it seems to be a family tradition that all the first born boys were called Edward Shepherd, there are dozens of them.
Is it a religious thing, a Derbyshire thing, family etc. Besides the obvious does anyone know where this may stem from.
The family still does it now, my cousin Edward Shepherd has a son called Edward Shepherd etc.

[Radcliff]

most likely a family tradition as it's reoccuring throughout your ancestry

[jim1]

You need to go back to the first one if you can & see what was happening at the time.
It could be mother's maiden name. Her/his mother's maiden name or even an illegitimate child with the father's surname as a middle name there are several possibilities.

[heywood]

Hello,

I can’t see any in Derbyshire - they are Liverpool and Birkenhead 
I would go along with family tradition based on mother’s or godparent’s name perhaps.

Heywood

[jorose]

The earliest Edward Shepherd Morrell I can see was b. 1872 Liverpool. His parents were Elias Morrell (from Derbyshire) and Elizabeth nee Smith (from Liverpool). They also gave a child the middle name Smith, so using family names as middle names for kids is something this family certainly did.

Looking at Edward Shepherd X's more generally, there are multiple Edward Shepherd Smiths in the Liverpool area (a few others with different surnames also - not that many). It would be worth looking into Elizabeth Smith's family to see if there was some connection there. Perhaps her brother, father, grandfather, favourite uncle, etc. was Edward Shepherd Smith and the first Edward Shepherd Morrell was named for him. 

There is only one Edward Shepherd (Edward Shepherd Cockayne) in Derbyshire, who married there in 1879, so it's not a common combination of first name (compare, e.g. John Wesley as first names which there are masses of). In my family we have an example where a middle name, originally a surname, was passed down through several lines including on the maternal side like this.

[Mark Harris]

Thanks guys, Elias had a John Smith Morrell as son who then named his son Edward Shepherd Morrell.

Nice tip on the Smith route, Elias Morrells wifes maiden name.

Elias' dad was a Joseph Morrell from Morley in Derbyshire, his father was Joseph too from Duffield.
I thought it went back further but it is a a nice tradition and yes Birkenhead is where most ended up, thats where I am now.

Thanks again