Family Naming Patterns

1. st son is named after the father’s father;
2. nd son is named after the mother’s father;
3. rd son is named after the father.

1. st daughter is named after the mother’s mother;
2. nd daughter is named after the father’s mother
3. rd daughter is named after the mother.

  So John and Robert McDonald, sons of William and Janet, would both name their eldest son William McDonald. And their second daughters would each be named Janet McDonald. Surnames were quite frequently used as middle names, including the grandmothers’ maiden surnames.   The tradition meant that cousins often had the same name, making following them through census records a little trickier, especially in a close knit community – you need to make sure that the record is for the correct William McDonald for example. You may also find that a name was “re-used” if a child died young, so in later years it may seem as though the names are out of order. The system can help to prioritise your genealogical research when you have more than one set of potential grandparents and limited time. Start with the grandparents with similar names to the couple's children. It's not infallible (family feuds have always been with us, after all, meaning that a couple might have chosen not to honour a particular member of the family) and of course, couples didn’t always follow this tradition. But it does mean that you have a lead to possible grandparents’ names when you have the details of a couple’s children – and vice versa.

first and middle names

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Sons and Grandsons

  The commonly found “Mc” (or “Mac”) before an a name means “Son of”, while the even more frequent “O'” means “grandson of”.   So MacAuley means “son of Auley”, and O’Keefe (O Caoinmh) means “grandson of Caoinmh”. Both can be interpreted as meaning “descendent of”.   These names are not always related to a specific known person in the past, or even to a person at all. Thus O’Grady (Ó Grádaigh) means “descendent of the illustrious”, McGill (Mac An Ghaill) “descendent of the foreigner” and, interestingly, MacTaggart (Mac antSagart) means “son of the priest”. Mmm.

Daughters and Wives

  Obviously daughters cannot be “son of” or “grandson of” anybody, and so female members of a family will have before their names “Ní” or “Níc”, which comes from from Iníon Mhic meaning “daughter of the son of”.   For example a girls name is Cait Ní Nuaillain (“Katherine, daughter of the son of the noble man”), but the brother is Seamus Ó Nuaillain (“James, grandson of the noble man”).   As in many language, things change with female names when marriages occur.   If Mary marries Sean Ó Doinn, and takes his name, she becomes Mary Bean Uí Doinn, which literally means “Mary, wife of the grandson of Doinn”. Had she married Padraig MacCarthaigh she would have been Mary Bean MhicCarthaigh or “Mary, wife of the son of Carthaigh”.   The ‘bean’ part, which means ‘wife’ is often dropped in comman useage, giving Mary Uí Doinn orMary MhicCarthaigh   But even though it is not the same as her husband’s, her married status would be quite clear from her name.

surname