Genealogy Chat

Has anyone come across strange second names whilst search parish records my gt gt gt grandfather William was Welsh & had the second name of Griffiths and his sister Hannah seems to have the second name of Woodland.
I wondered if Williams second name was actually his mothers maiden name?

Very often the middle name was either the mothers maiden name or a family name,

2 Surnames can also indicate that the child was illigitimate, so the parents were not married.Not unsusual in their time.

my father's christian name was his mother;s maiden name - Harman

Sometimes a godparent's surname will be used as a middle name for the godchild.

Thanks will remember that, maybe worth looking at registers again for marriage with maiden name as Griffiths just in case!

i found my great grandmother through my grandfathers middle name his name was harry then middle name DITCHFIELD hurst ditchfield being his mothers maiden name maybe our ancestors were trying to leave us a clue..

Using family surnames as 2nd and/or 3rd given names is not uncommon in my tree. Even have one branch where a family surname was given to one daughter, and an anagram of the surname to her younger sister.

Have just come across one relative who was lumbered with the names Pharoah Abraham when he was born. No surprise he never used his 1st name as soon he was old enough to answer back!!

Yes, Lux.

My 5xgrt grandmothers elder sister was Martha Philadelphia Wood. No connection to Philadelphia known and she wasnt illegitimate

Middle names are frequently the names of grandmothers maiden name

Shirley, Philadelphia is a popular Romany name.

Is it? We have a Philadelphia somewhere back there in the tree ... Sounds exciting!

Jill

I found family members because my gr, grandmother's maiden name was used as a second name.

Hi Romany ,thats interesting , cant see how it fits with the family in this instance .Her dad was a Mariner in the Royal Navy and mums family were all mariners from Heybridge in Essex. Wonder what might crop up tho .Martha was born in 1830

I think Philadelphia is a lovely name

Yes usually an unusual middle name will be a family surname - but not always! One of my gt-grand aunts was Elizabeth Winchester Sugden - an unusual middle name, especially for a female. However, I could find no family connection to anyone with the Winchester surname. Then I realised that she was born at sea (her father was a soldier and she was born en route for India). When I traced her birth, the name of the ship was - of course - HMS Winchester!

I've brought my old Philadelphia thread back from the dead for all you Philadelphia fans!

I have two Uncles, Grandfather,and Gt Grandfather with the middle name Fishwick, this was the maiden name of my Gt Gt Gt Grandmother

One of my relatives has the name George Lindergreen Jenkins Baker. Actually, it's down as Lindergen and Lindergreen according to where you look. Jenkins was his mother's maiden name, but I still haven't managed to trace the Lindergreen even after two years!

My 4xgrt grandmother was Frances Bartendale Oates, Bartendale was her fathers mothers maiden name, her sister was Elizabeth Boden Oates, Boden being from her mothers maiden name. Great help in proving who's who.