MIDDLE NAMES

[wini]

Chris,

Since the middle name would not appear on birth certificates are they recorded on death certificates?
I wonder where that trend started, was this peculiar to the group you have been studying?

wini

[joette]

My most prolific of the middle names are my GGrandfather & his siblings born between 1860-1879 in Banff/Elgin they have fairly mixed middle names-the first is James for his Father no middle name,the Lewis Inkson,
we have a Fraser(Mother was Rosanna Fraser & this is a prolific name amongst the McKimmies generations with one in each branch)we have William Trail(my GG)to distinquish from the William Fraser who drowned aged two.The youngest was named John Gordon Smith McKimmie & he was named for his Father's then employer.

My GGrandmother on the paternal side I always knew as Christina Taylor Young-her Mother being Ann Taylor but on looking at the births of the four girls only one is registered as Taylor Young although the two surviving ones used Taylor on their marriage & on births of most of their children.

I myself have a middle name which is in honour of my Granny's sister as my Dad would not name me as the 2nd daughter after his Mum-Auntie M was a compromise as my Mum did not want to hurt my Granny-my lil sis eventually got Granny's as a middle name.Funnilly enough the reason my Dad didn't want me named for his Mum was because he thought people grew to be like their namesakes. I am very like my Granny in lots of ways & my sis not at all.So sorry Dad you was wrong

[Lizzie]

This is the one which I have yet to find the answer

My grandmother's middle name was Fethon. It is on her birth certificate 1874 Glasgow. It is on her marriage certificate in 1895 and lastly her death certificate in 1912. I searched this name on and off for years with no success as to who this name belonged to. There is just 2 (two) in the USA. None in Scotland. However I did find a large family of Fethon's living in Hull England. The connection is still a mystery.

Elizabeth

[joette]

Maybe the name of the Doctor who delivered the baby(if there was one involved),the Minister who christened her.Indeed maybe like in my family an employer of the Father.

Maybe a friend named Fethon.Just another mystery to ponder on.

[Chris Paton]

Chris,

Since the middle name would not appear on birth certificates are they recorded on death certificates?
I wonder where that trend started, was this peculiar to the group you have been studying?

wini

Hi Wini,

Yes, I've seen them on death certs. Remember, what you see on a death cert is the information that was offered to the registrar, so if someone's son, for example, gave the registrar the name of his father with the middle name, then that's what would appear. This is something I've found on various trees from across Scotland, not just in Perth.

By the way, I see you're in Queensland - if you're ever driving up Paton Street or Bell Street in Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, they're named after my four greats aunt and her hubby! lol

Chris

[Chris Paton]

Maybe the name of the Doctor who delivered the baby(if there was one involved),the Minister who christened her.Indeed maybe like in my family an employer of the Father.

Maybe a friend named Fethon.Just another mystery to ponder on.

Absolutely - my great grandad's middle name was Hepburn, and I haven't a clue where that came from. It was most definitely not a family name being carried on, so with my luck, the neighbour at the time probably had a cat called Hepburn! lol

Chris

[wini]

Chris,

Your Aunties must have been early arrivals to have streets named after them.
I do get to Brisbane but usually just to pass through the airport. I am nearly 2000kms away.

I have my maternal grandmothers maiden name as my middle name.

It is an interesting subject but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

wini

[Chris Paton]

It is an interesting subject but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

wini

Hi wini, if there was any rhyme or reason to it, I think genealogy would just become so... predictable! lol

Chris

[sheilajim]

Hi All

Middle names can be a wonderful source for tracing an ancestor, especially is they have a very common name like McDonald. I would have had a great deal of trouble finding my McDonald ancestor John Dunn McDonald, if he hadn't been given the middle name of his mother Chirsten Dunn.

It was not just for the wealthy, who had middle names, because this family was anything but rich. It helped that the name was given down through the generations. My GGGrandfather liked his middle name of Dunn so much, that his marriage was recorded as only John Dunn. Luckily his wife's name was not as common.
It seems that all of my ancestors had middle names, though only a few are consistently recorded.

Regards

[David Lang]

he earliest I can find in my Line is 1855 with Helen Mary Gillies , Mary being her mothers name.

From then on her 3 of her 4 children have middle names 2 after grandmothers maiden names and one her maiden name.

The one son without a middle name , then procedes to name his 13 children all with middle names, a combination of mothers/grandmothers maiden names and even ggrandmothers maiden names.

My father has his maternal grandfathers first name as his middle name but is called Gillies after the original Helen of 1855 fame!!!

My mother's middle name is her grandmothers first name as my grandfather , thought Margaret was to near to her sisiter Maureen and her mother Mary,

Me I have my maternal grandmother's maiden name plain old Brown and my brother has my paternal grandmothers as his

I must admit in my quest ti find Stewarts and Browns middle names seem to help a lot.

I always find on SP if you put a * then the mother surename in the first name box followed by the surname you can find a few births of relatives that way