Week 3’s theme is “Namesake.” Are you named for one of your ancestors? Do you have an ancestor who was named for someone else (either in the family or a well-known person)?
The most notable family in my family tree for namesakes is, hands-down, the family of Edward and Hulda Hanson. Edward and Hulda were my great-grandparents on my paternal grandmother’s side.
Many of their children were named for Edward’s brothers and sisters. Here’s a helpful chart; on the left are Edward and his siblings, on the right are Hulda and her siblings. In the middle are the children they had together, and arrows pointing from namesakes.
Clearly, many names from Edward’s side of the family were passed down while the Martinson side seemed to get short shrift.
As far as namesakes going into current generations by 21st-century standards, some of the better names in circulation for the girls in the family were: Emma Caroline, Sara, Juliana, Olive, Nilla and Anna. Of course “Lisa Stena” is a name that SOMEONE must recycle someday! Boys’ names standing the test of time would be: Franklin, Edward, David, and Phillip. Wallace, Hugo, Clifford and Cornelius would be daring choices if there are any adventurous parents out there!
I wonder if there is any significance as to which aunts and uncles were chosen…and which were not?
(Not shown are the children of Edward’s first marriage to Anna Martinson. Their daughters were Mabel Ethel and Ruth Luella, neither of whom had recycled names.)
My own middle name, Louise, goes back several generations on my mom’s side and is shared by many descendants of Ida Louis Black, my great-great-grandmother.
Being intentional about recycling family names is pretty cool.
