Genealogy Chat

Hi snowdrop, My Thompson is a Barron, as is Cooper. Any chance there is a connection? Jay

My Uncle is called Richard and he is my fathers brother, and on the Titshall family line the name Richard was first used for my gggggg grandad born in 1728 so the name has been in my family for 278 years. Ben

Wow Catherine yours must be easy to follow with names like that!!! Okay Jay, what's your Thompson's surname? Elaine do your Thomas Cooper's go 'just like that'? Is there any relation to THE Tommy Cooper I wonder? It's a shame all these traditional names haven't been carried on through the years. Thinking about it I would guess it was about the 1920's give or take when people stopped using the handed down names - what do you think? SNOPDROP - my new name for the evening!!

I have a Thompson (first name) and also a Cooper in the same family. I thought they were unusual Jay

There is a Thomas Cooper in every generation of our family back to 1520 in Warminster according to my Grandad.(So why can i only get back to 1795 ?! lol ) Elaine.

I've got 3 generations of Clara, then a Claire, although not a direct descent - Claras were gr granny's aunt, sister & daughter. The Claire was a granddaughter. Also have an Allinson Grainger who named his son Allinson and then a grandson by another son. The name continued as a middle name. Easy to follow them! Helen

The latest Sarah in our family was born 20 years ago bu the earliest i have found was 230 years ago..... Its on both my mother and fathers side as a family name and it wasn't known to be one!! :o) thankfully my sister was born before me and got Sarah given to her!! Diana xx

Debbie, I love your new name for me - think I might have to change it permanently!!!!! SNOPDROP lol

Hi Nell. Thank you. :) I'm sure it's a coincidence, since the name is so common, but I was doing a bit of looking up on the Austen's and there's some connection to Coopers. Funny, my Philadelphia's last name was Cooper. I'm sure it's just coincidental, though.

Debbie, Those are very Germanic names - any connections across the channel? I jut love the Ebenezer, reminds me of scrooge - any connections to Charles Dickens? I don't have my head on properly sometimes. My other half's got a family member who is called Thompson - for a first name!! I think that's quite unusual. When we looked in the census he seemed to be the only one in the area we were looking for. Snowdrops

I have found lots of patterns in my husband's tree where he has a Jenkin, son called John, John's son named Jenkin, Jenkin's son named John etc. My family I have 3 straight Williams - probably more if I could get back further. My gt X 3 grandfather was called Emmets Matthews (his grandmother was Anne Emmets). None of his 5 sons were called Emmets, but 4 of them and their elder sister had sons called Emmets as a middle name.

Lisa There's a Philadelphia in Jane Austen's family (an aunt, I think), so it was a recognised female name and not necessarily connected with the USA City. nell

Re Philadelphia name from above: there's a town named Philadelphia in the UK, but her family lived in Sussex, which is too far away from the town. Don't know how she ended up with the name - probably a mystery I'll never solve.

I love the Philadelphia one. Christiana's lovely, I have just remembered about my scottish side and I have two Christiana's on there along with a Euphemia which seems unusual to me (being born in England) but there were quite a few of them for their time. Off for my tea now will check in later. Keep them coming - it's nice to hear the differences Snowdrops

Hi Snowdrop I have four generations of Christiana's, the last one was my grandmother. I thought it was a little unusual so am trying to find out where it came from but not got very far yet! Kaz :o) Also have loads of usual Mary Anne's, Elizabeths, Joseph's Williams, Thomas's and John's!

Most of my names are common names. Philadelphia is the only 'different' name in my tree.

Aw! Snowdrop!

Elizabeth, I think you make a very valid point. It makes it easier (if there is such a thing in genealogy) to look for families having a good idea of what their names may be. Pity the future generations who try to follow a pattern of names. Or perhaps we who 'do' the family history now will leave a legacy for future generations to 'just fill in the blanks as they go along'. Snowdrops

This is an interesting thread. The tradition seems to have really changed in the last 20 years, children given all manner of peculiar names and weird spellings. Parents seem to be trying to give their child a unique name, one they will need to spell out to everyone they ever meet. Then add the complexities of modern families with step & half siblings everywhere. I can't imagine how family in the future will be able to make the connections.

Nolls, I can't think it was meant literally about the little chap when he was born - I'll bet he was lovely, just the way you sound!! Snowdrops