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Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/mbexec/msg/an/JiC.2ACE/273.1.1.2.1
Message Board Post:
Yes, naming patterns are of primary importance in Welsh genealogy, given the difficulty of
distinguishing between individuals with such a limited supply of surnames.
Virtually all names given to children will be in honour of relatives, usually close
relatives. The first children are usually named after their grandparents, later children
after siblings or less commonly other relatives. Sometimes this pattern is disrupted
though, and on investigation it may be discovered that a child has been named in honour of
an aunt maybe who has just died. And a particularly influential relative, maybe the great
grandfather who passed down the farm, or an uncle or cousin who is a preacher, will often
be commemorated.
Sometimes though one gets more inventive/adventurous/religious parents who break the
mould, but then these new names will in all probability be passed down in turn.
My great uncle Michael Thomas from Blaenau's forename could be traced back to an
individual, Michael Owen of Llanllyfni born in the 1660s. Another great uncle Rice Hughes
inherited his name from my 8xgreat grandfather, probably born before the English civil
war.
Incidentally, a middle name during the mid- to late- 19th century for men is usually a
continuation of the patronymic system, so that Robert John Owen(s) your ancestor may have
been son of a John Owen(s). I have seen a Robert Robert Robert Roberts! which of course
makes no sense except if you regard the middle names as patronymics.