Multiple same first names in same family?
Hi All
Has anyone had the experience of finding Czech children with the same name in a single family?
I just documented my 4th great grandfather’s 10 children from birth records online and found two Josephs and three Ewas. The records are clear, but the reasoning for same name children is not.
1. If one child died, would they name a future child by that name? I tried to see if that was the case with the 2 Josephs and there was no death records for the earlier Joseph before the latter was born. The 3 Ewas were born 1801, 1806 and 1815 – so that could be a possibility.
2. I understand there is a Czech tradition of naming children on certain saint’s days during the year – would that be a reason for multiple same names in a family?
I’d be very curious to hear if anyone else has had this experience, and may know potential reasons why multiple same names appear in the same family. Many thanks!
Ed
Sorry for the late comment, I just noticed this topic. Researching my 4-great grandparents I discovered they had 5 sons named Matej. The first four all died before their first birthday. The father's name was Matej so I assume there was a strong desire to have a son carry on his name. The fifth son named Matej would live to adulthood, marry and have a family.
I have seen many records that had a child named with that of a previous child that died before second child's birth. Also same name might be used if man remarried after first wife died. Naming conventions resulted in many children/cousins with same same. If they lived close, often many ended up being known with a nick name, or with two names if family gave middle names.
This is very unusual for us in the present day but this was common on years past. In my mother’s family, we find that her brothers & sisters carried the same names of their aunts & uncles. Mom had 2 brothers, both named John who died in infancy and older sister Marie who died in infancy and a younger sister who lived to maturity. Depending upon who was the ruler of the land, it was an honor to name your child after the Emperor.
In reply to This is very unusual for us by ljzajicek
Thank you for your kind response, Sandra – I greatly appreciate it! As I continue my research I am finding more and more siblings with the same name, so this all fits that pattern.
In reply to This is very unusual for us by ljzajicek
Many thanks ljzajieck, this is very helpful!
Yes, they would often re-use a name if the first (or even the second) child died. Also, if an older child had moved out when a new baby was born, they might re-use the name yet again.