A recent message on a Northern Irish family history group I’m a member of prompted this post, as it confirmed something I’ve long suspected, at least in my family and those of more distant relatives.

Whenever we have a get-together, the number of repeating first names is notable; not so much for the last two generations, but the practice lingers on at least in mine; I’m named for my maternal and paternal grandmothers, and I kept the tradition going with our son.

A discussion on naming patterns often observed in Ireland (and presumably elsewhere) at least until the 20th century mentioned the following conventions:

A first son was named after his father’s father
A second son was named after his mother’s father
A third son was named after the father himself

A first daughter was named after her mother’s mother
A second daughter was named after her father’s mother
A third daughter was named after the mother herself.

I wondered about daughters and sons after number three as many families were much larger before the mid-20th century; for example, my own father was one of ten siblings.

The Family Search website has the following information for Irish first name conventions:

A fourth son was named for his father’s eldest brother
A fifth son was named for his mother’s eldest brother

A fourth daughter was named for her mother’s eldest sister
A fifth daughter was named for her father’s eldest sister.

This still doesn’t help us with children number 6-10 for instance in my father’s family. Anecdotally, I’ve spoken to daughters who were given feminized versions of their eldest uncle’s names (e.g. Roberta for Robert, Josephine for Joseph) and this format would be followed presumably until aunts and uncles ran out!

I’ve also noted that my younger aunts and uncles had names that referred to more distant relatives, such as cousins, or that they were new introductions to the family tree, the parent having exhausted all options!

This naming pattern may assist if you aren’t sure of a descendant’s name or the name of their parents; it’s always worth working your way back to see if you can match up names, although, be warned, in Northern Ireland there’s an overwhelming number of Williams, James’s, Janes and Margarets!

Nicknames and Tee Names

One way this small pool of the same name across generations was managed was by using nicknames; hardly anyone went by their given name in my family. It’s interesting to note that a similar practice, called tee names was also popular in Scotland and Northern England, where no doubt the above naming convention was practised, and where smaller communities often featured a limited number of surnames.

So for instance, a nickname may be as simple as mother and daughter, or father and son (Big vs Little, with no reference to actual size!), or big/wee in terms of their physique, or another distinguishing feature (ginger etc)

I’m glad that this tradition has survived at least in our family up to the present day. I wouldn’t really want to saddle anyone with my first name (although it’s much more common in Northern Ireland and Ireland than the rest of the UK), I may drop some hints to my son if and when he has a daughter to carry on the tradition with at least a middle name!

I’d love to hear if your family still continues such naming conventions?