#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 6 Same Name

#52 Ancestors 2020

Week 6 Same Name

One of the great frustrations of family historians is the propensity of families to perpetuate the same names, generation after generation. 

In my paternal grandmother’s line, the Goldings, Slaters and Brockwells of Glemsford and Cavendish in Suffollk, have men called Luke and Mark, and women called Sarah and Elizabeth, in every generation.  It must have been confusing at the time for cousins living in the same village to have the same name.  I wonder if they adopted nicknames (Mark the Tall, Sarah the Redhead) to identify them.  Now, hundreds of years later, it is still a cause of tearing hair and constantly checking dates to make sure I have the right one.

My 5 x great grandmother Jane Titford was the 5^th generation to have a brother called William.  Her father appears in documentation as “William the Pauper” which at least helps to differentiate him from his forefathers.

In my husband’s family there are four Charles McCanns, but at least they all have different second names – that helps.

The most frustrating case is another of my husband’s family – Amy Havergal McCann, daughter of Jonathan McCann.  Born 1886.  Died 1888.  When I found her marriage in 1913, I was very confused.

Sure enough, there were two Amy Havergal McCanns – the second also born to Jonathan, the year after the first one died. 

All of these are irritations for the genealogist.  I wanted to talk also about the pride inherent in the repetition of a family name through generations.

I wrote last week about the Power and Plunkett families from Ireland, many of whom emigrated to Australia in 1840.  My 2 x great grandmother Bridget Power was one of them.  She married in 1853, and named her first born George Frederick Power Morgan.  Two other sons were Patrick Frederick Power Morgan and Francis Glynn Power Morgan, and a daughter was called Elizabeth Blanche Power Morgan.  Bridget’s son John called his son, Power Goulburn Morgan (he was born in the city of Goulburn).  I understand he was always called “Pat”

In the next generation were Max Pedro Power Morgan, Eileen Power Morgan, Francis Power Wheldon and a family of Power Malones, some of whom incorporated "Power" as part of their surname (Power-Malone).

The Plunkett name similarly recurs through the generations – I have counted 12 in my tree who have Plunkett as a middle name.  Some of the Plunkett family have had prominent legal careers (see 52 Ancestors – Week 5), so it seems to have been something of a badge of honour to perpetuate the name.

In an era when people vie to outdo each other with the “originality” of their baby names (“Apple”, “Raddix” etc) it is quite refreshing to read about families who honoured their forebears by passing their names to the next generation.