Sometimes, it is fun to think about how our ancestors may have felt about doing certain things that we ourselves are doing now. One thing that has been on my mind quite a bit lately is naming our second son, who is due in April. My husband and I had such an easy time naming our first son. He suggested a name. I decided that it was not only a great name, but a great fit with my father’s first name as the middle name. The thing that sealed the deal was that we both thought that it sounded great when added to the surname, and thus Dylan James Delaney was named months before he was born. When he arrived, his name fit him perfectly. Apparently, this is a tough act to follow because we are not getting that kind of feeling about any particular name for our second little boy.
For as long as there have been babies, there have been names for those babies. How did our ancestors choose which names to give their children? Did they spend hours agonizing over possible names like we do? Did they think about names in advance, or when baby arrived did they simply say something like “Looks like a William to me.” As part of my quest to find inspiration in the baby naming department, I decided to learn a little about naming traditions both past and present.
Genealogists are, by nature, interested in the names of their ancestors. This can either add to the excitement of naming their own offspring or it can be discouraging if none of the names in the child’s families seem to be a good fit. Additionally, different cultures have different naming traditions that can make things easier or more difficult for parents – to – be, depending upon whether they feel restricted by them or relieved that their choices are somewhat limited.
In some places like Ghana, many people choose their baby’s name based upon the day of the week that they are born. In Elizabethan England, babies were named a few days after they were born, when they were baptized. There was a short list of acceptable names to choose from, which made things easier yet restricted creativity. Native American tribes often had naming traditions that were connected to natural elements or processes. Of course, the Puritans tended to go with biblical names but they also sometimes chose names that spoke of virtue (like Hope and Mercy) and sometimes even got a little extreme and chose names like “FearGod” or “NoMerit” to send a clear message.
Photo by ideahoeditor on morguefile.com.