Common names in Wigtownshire

[gordon12]

My family tree is a bit muddled in the region of Portpatrick and Wigtown in the 1700's due to the seeming narrow variety of names used. The classic example of this is a document I obtained a copy of from the Scotland's People website which states that a woman by the name of Jannet Cosh, daughter of James Cosh, did marry someone by the name of James Cosh in Portpatrick on 2 March 1786. Really? What is frustrating me now is that I obtained copies of two original documents from the same above website which tell me that Janet Blain was baptised in Wigtown on 22 January 1727 and had parents who were Patrick Blain and Jannet Hannay and Jannet Blain was baptised in Wigtown on 12 October 1741 and had parents Patrick Blain and Jannet Hannay. How does this work? I have visited both Portpatrick and Wigtown. They are not far from each other and are not large towns, so small populations. Can anyone throw some light onto this?

[Forfarian]

I imagine that Janet Blain born 1727 died young and her parents gave the same name to a younger child.

And that's not the first time I've seen a woman marry a man with the same name as her father.

[gordon12]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, this had occurred to me but I can find no record of the death of young Janet (b. 1727) and they apparently did not leave the area. There is a record of a Janet Blain being married in 1746 in Stoneykirk, which is nearby. Also, curiously, in the 1727 document the names of both the daughter and mother are spelt with one 'n', i.e. Janet. In the 1741 document, they are both spelt with two 'n's, i.e. Jannet. All very confusing. It's doing my head in. And to bring it back to my original point, I have just noticed that of eleven consecutive entries before and after Jannet in the 1741 document, eight of them are named Jannet. What are the odds? Seems to be a limited selection of names back then.

[Forfarian]

Yes, this had occurred to me but I can find no record of the death of young Janet (b. 1727)

Records of deaths are rare before 1855, and the further back you go, the rarer they are. The absence of a death record does not mean that no death occurred.

There is a record of a Janet Blain being married in 1746 in Stoneykirk, which is nearby.

Just as likely to be an unrelated Janet Blain whose baptism is missing from the surviving records.

Also, curiously, in the 1727 document the names of both the daughter and mother are spelt with one 'n', i.e. Janet. In the 1741 document, they are both spelt with two 'n's, i.e. Jannet.

That is totally unimportant. Do not assign any significance to spelling variations. Spelling was very fluid and it's not uncommon to find the same person's name spelled in two or more different ways in the same document.

And to bring it back to my original point, I have just noticed that of eleven consecutive entries before and after Jannet in the 1741 document, eight of them are named Jannet. What are the odds? Seems to be a limited selection of names back then.

Yes. Perhaps there was a spate of Jan(n)ets named after the wife of the local minister of landowner?