Scottish naming patterns

[g eli]

I am looking at a family with children born 1826 through 1844.I am trying to find out more about their parents, are naming patterns standard or are they somewhat arbitrary depending on relationships with grandparents.

[GR2]

The so-called traditional naming pattern has the first son called after the paternal grandfather, the second son after the maternal grandfather and the third son after the father: the first daughter called after the maternal grandmother, the second daughter after the paternal grandmother, and the third daughter after the mother.

However, this is not always strictly adhered to and children can be called after friends, neighbours, more distant relations, an employer, the minister, the schoolmaster, the doctor etc. Again, if the father and both grandfathers are all called John, it throws everything out.

[g eli]

Thank you GR2 for your reply. I thought that was probably how it went in some families.
 Would a grandfather be excluded, the reason I am asking is that her marriage notice gives her father as Hugh but none of her 7 sons were called this.

[Forfarian]

Maybe she didn't get on with her father? Or maybe there was a child named Hugh whose baptism wasn't recorded and who died very young - are there any gaps in the family?

[brigidmac]

Could the Hugh named on her marriage have been a stepfather ? Have you found her baptism ?

Are other children named in the traditional.way ..after her husband's father and her mother .

I agree with forfarian you would have to look for births and deaths of other children between censuses

[AngusMcCoatup]

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules about naming. What we found was on one side of the family tree it does look like the "traditional" naming convention is followed with the eldest son being named after the father so that there are several generations all with the same name.

However on another side of the tree, it is a bit hit and miss whether that same naming convention is used with seemingly random names cropping up, names missing generations then reappearing but there's no evidence to suggest they were being named after a grand parent. I guess names come in and out of fashion which could have an influence as well.

Or maybe there was a child named Hugh whose baptism wasn't recorded and who died very young - are there any gaps in the family?

I have come across instances where sometimes a child has died in infancy and the name is "reused" for the next child of the appropriate gender - perhaps this is a way to indicate they were naming the child after a parent/grandparent.

[g eli]

Thank you everyone for your replies. This family is one of my blank walls, The family moved from Scotland to England around 1836, they are all on the 1841 census all born Scotland but of course no county and I can't even be sure that the oldest son is actually a son. I can find no baptisms for the four eldest.

[Rena]

The so-called traditional naming pattern has the first son called after the paternal grandfather, the second son after the maternal grandfather and the third son after the father: the first daughter called after the maternal grandmother, the second daughter after the paternal grandmother, and the third daughter after the mother.

However, this is not always strictly adhered to and children can be called after friends, neighbours, more distant relations, an employer, the minister, the schoolmaster, the doctor etc. Again, if the father and both grandfathers are all called John, it throws everything out.

I agree with all you say.

Although I do have one line in my Lanarkshire tree where three boys were baptised "John".   The oldest son being known as;  "John", the second son as "Jack" and the third son is "wee Jackie".

For those who don't know "Jack" is the pet name for "John" and the English equivalent of the French/Norman given name of "Jacques".   

[Forfarian]

For those who don't know "Jack" is the pet name for "John" and the English equivalent of the French/Norman given name of "Jacques".

Actually Jacques is the equivalent of James, originally Jacob, becoming Latin Jacobus, which mutated to Jacomus and became Giacomo in Italian and James in English.

John is the equivalent of French Jean, and Jack was almost always a pet name for John, via Jan, then Jankin, though it's now used as a separate name.