Naming Practice

One of the things that I wished I had understood early in my genealogy search is naming practices. It was common to have the first born son and daughter named after the father and mother of the Dad. The second son and daughter were named after the wife's parents. Pay special attention to middle names. Names that sound more like last names than first names are often maiden names in future generations. Our ancestors were not creative when it came to naming us. That is why you find very common names when you are looking where our ancestors lived throughout time.