by Liz Kennington

This past Spring, the British royal family welcomed a new prince, the son of Prince William and Princess Kate. The young prince was born on 23 April 2018, and there were a few days where the name of the new prince was not known. On April 27 the name of the new prince was revealed: Louis Arthur Charles. There is always a lot of curiosity about that new name since royals use multiple names, three or four, for their children.

When Queen Victoria reigned, she ordered that all her descendants bear the name Albert somewhere in their names if male and Victoria if female. Needless to say, this order has not been followed to a great extent over the years although Princess Eugenie, Eugene Helena Victoria, and her father, Prince Andrew, Andrew Albert Christian Edward, are some of Victoria’s descendants who do carry the names.

While the new royal baby will be known by the first name throughout his life, when he becomes King he can select one of his names to reign. Interestingly, when Queen Victoria was born, George IV was not interested in her ever inheriting the throne. As a result, he denied her a royal name and degreed that she should be given her mother’s name, Alexandria Victoria.

With three names, what is the last name? Prince Louis will have no official last name. Yup! If a last name is ever needed it is likely to Mountbatten-Windsor, Cambridge, or even Wales.

While these naming constrictions may seem odd, it only takes a quick look at other cultures to see they are also bound by some unusual naming traditions. Do you have any Southern ancestors? It is not uncommon to find females with a family surname as their middle name. I found this disturbing at first because I kept looking for a first marriage when I found female ancestors! It was only after finding tombstones transcriptions that I understood the Southern need to keep family names in the family.

How about Old German? The first name of each daughter was usually the first name of the mother, and the first name of each son was usually the first name of the father. To help keep them straight, the middle name of each child was often the name of the baby’s baptismal sponsor, and this name was the name the children went by during his/her lifetime.

If your family originates from Scandinavia, then you have been exposed to patrionymic naming patterns. Rather than keep a constant last name, the name changed with every generation. John Larson’s children would carry the last name of Johnson, rather than Larson. It wasn’t until the late 1800s or early 1900s that these names became more standardized and the last name became permanent.

Another common naming pattern I have run into several times is the use of a historical figure’s name as the first and middle names of a child. How about George Washington Smith or Jefferson Davis Jones? Or even the practice of vying for a family ancestor’s name in each generation. If a famous great-great uncle were to be honored, it might cause a competition among family members to see who would have the first son in that generation, thus “earning” the right to use the name first.

Since many early converts to the Church came from the British Isles, this naming pattern used in England, Ireland, and Wales from 1700-1870 could become a bit confusing if families were large:

First daughter: named after the mother’s mother
Second daughter: named after the mother’s father’s mother
Third daughter: named after the mother
Fourth daughter: named after the mother’s oldest sister

First son: named after the father’s father
Second son: named after the mother’s father
Third son: named after the father
Fourth son: named after the father’s oldest brother

This naming pattern explains why my 2nd great-grandfather is the Jr rather than his oldest brother. It took me a long time to figure that one out, since in our culture if there is going to be a junior, it is usually the first son.

Compound this pattern further if the father had several brothers who would also follow this naming pattern, and suddenly you have multiple people in the same area, about the same ages, with the same name. A genealogist’s nightmare! Then consider what many families often did if one of these children died early: gave that name to the next boy or girl born into the family. The chances for incorrect family trees just keeps going on and on!

The next time you are faced with names of people in your family tree and don’t know where they immigrated from, you might want consider the naming patterns in the family to help you discover your family’s migration pattern.