A Name With Meaning

        When I first started my family history “hobby” about 15 years ago, I learned by just jumping in and researching, as did many of us. I remember the first time I ran across a name in my dad’s family line in an old MS-DOS printout that a relative had sent me so many years ago. As I was flipping through these printouts of descendant and family group sheet reports (which I did not even understand at all), I got so very excited when I saw the name Andrew Jackson Hinch. Were we related to Andrew Jackson? Well, as it turned out, no. I think there was an in-law David Crockett Knox in there too.

Stewart Hinch and Rebecca Sherrill, our dad's parents. Possibly wedding day December 1904

But I did learn that it was a “thing” (and maybe still is) to name a child after a well-known person, such as a famous president, founding father, or maybe an impactful preacher, with maybe the hope that they would encompass some of the traits of that person. Some of the names I have come across seemed so unusual until finally I realized those names were from real people that had lived a noteworthy life. Below are some examples.

Lorenzo Dow Harris, named after Lorenzo Dow (born 1777) who became an American Evangelist preacher. “Our” Lorenzo Dow Harris was my second great-grandfather on my dad’s side.

Andrew Jackson Hinch, was named after the 7th president of the United States. Andrew Jackson. “Our” Andrew Jackson Hinch is my 2nd great-grand uncle on my dad’s side. He had a son Andrew Jackson jr, and also a first cousin with that name.

John Wesley Reilly, being a Protestant Irishman, was possibly named after John Wesley (born 1703), an English theologian and evangelist who founded the movement Methodism within the Church of England. “Our John Wesley Reilly was my 3rd great grandfather on my mom’s side.

George Washington Reilly must have been named after the first president of the United States, George Washington. “Our” George was a grandson of John Wesley Reilly, mentioned just above. “Our’ George Washington Reilly was born in 1869, and sadly died of diphtheria in 1870 at the age of 11 months. He was my great-granduncle on my mother’s side. George’s father John Mervyn Reilly immigrated to this country in 1852. I found this quite touching that they named their second son after our first president. 

So this topic got me to thinking about naming patterns in general. Different nationalities have, or had, patterns of naming children after parents, grandparents, etc. With that in mind, I thought I would mention my name and my brothers, with the story behind the name.

Carol Elizabeth  - my middle name was from my mom’s grandmother, Elizabeth Reilly Koetzle.

James Harley - The James could have been from mom’s grandfather, James Alonzo Harley or James Hinch, dad’s grandfather. The Harley was from mom’s father’s line.

Robert Stewart  - Stewart was our dad’s given name.

Roger Clifford - Clifford was from our mom’s uncle, Clifford Koetzle. 

So there you have it. What naming patters are in your family? It might be interesting to find out.