Total: 5,030 Responses
- 54%, Yes, I was named for an ancestor.
- 14%, Yes, I was named for a relative who was not an ancestor.
- 2%, I am not sure if I was named for a family member.
- 33%, No, I was not named for a family member.
- 37%, I named a child (or children) after a family member.
John Boeren, Tilburg, The Netherlands: In the Netherlands we have a longstanding tradition of naming the first son after his paternal grandfather. So, my first name is Johannes. A Latin name, since I am from a Roman Catholic family. My second Latin name is Adrianus, after my maternal grandfather. And my third Latin name is Henricus, after my father. Thus, I am named after three ancestors!
Peg Werner, Fergus Falls, Minnesota: My middle name is Jo, after my great-grandmother, Emma Josephine. I named my daughter Jenny Jo, and my son named his daughter Emilia Jo. My first name, however, comes from my mother's favorite dog. My mother insisted it was a high honor, but my brother always replied "Mom, a dog is a dog."
Bernice Gleason, Deltona, Florida: I was named for my paternal grandmother, Bernice, and my maternal great-grandmother, Azalia. My parents didn’t consider the consequences of pairing those names with a last name beginning with “G.”
James Allen Rogers, Centennial, Colorado: I was named after my step-grandfather, James Alvin Stewart. As an adult, I learned James was a scoundrel. In 1922, he tried to shoot his wife but ended up crippling his mother-in-law, who tried to protect her daughter. He even shot their pet dog. A jury found him innocent, and he got his revolver back the day after the trial. If that’s not bad enough, he was still married to the first wife when he married my grandmother! I seriously thought for a while about changing my name.
Joanne Drummond, New Orleans, Louisiana: When my parents were expecting me, they had five daughters and a son. My brother Joe was desperate for a brother. To soften the blow of gaining another sister, they named me Joanne after him. He was named in honor of my uncle Joseph, who was killed as a child.
Catherine Lieb, Copley, Ohio: My family has a tradition of naming the first daughter Catherine. Each Catherine is given a nickname as a child: I was Cathy, my mother was Kay, my grandmother was Kate. When one of us becomes the matriarch, we are called by our full name. I am a fifth-generation Catherine, but sadly I had only sons. However, both of them named their first daughters Catherine!
Kay Patterson, Beardstown, Illinois: I was named Martha Kay. As a child, I didn't like the name Martha. As an adult, I learned that I was named for my grandmother, Martha Gertrude, who went into a coma while giving birth to my mother and died three days later. I am proud to be named after my grandmother and I now cherish the name.
