Question of the Week: Has something been named after someone in your family? [closed]

+34 votes
2.8k views

imageHas something been named after someone in your family? Tell us about it with an answer below. You can also answer on Facebook or share the question image to with friends and family on social media to get them talking.

in The Tree House by Eowyn Walker G2G Astronaut (2.4m points)
closed by Eowyn Walker
Yes, the town of Round Rock, Texas has an association called the Old Settlers Association. My grandfather, Franklin Lincoln Aten was one of the presidents of the association for years and when they established the Old Settlers Park outside of Round Rock they named one of the streets in the park "Aten"
Yes,,,, My Great Grandfather Millard McNutt ,,, Mc Nutt-948 He was a lay Methodist Minister in Alabama and one of the 32 founding members of Liberty M.E. Church, South 1877 according to the Church Record. The Church was renamed in his honor about 1930 to 1940. The McNutt Memorial Methodist Church, Dekalb Alabama.
The town of Louisiana, Missouri, is named after my GGG grandfathers sister, Louisiana (Basye) Tombs.  Their father was John Walter Basye, the towns founder.
My mum told me I was named after Dawn Frazer and Lorraine Crapp,( swimmers).

Dawn Fraser (note spelling) and Lorraine Crapp both swam for Australia in the 1956 Olympic Games, Melbourne, Australia. I heard their race on the radio (Australia did not have TV until that year and most people could not afford one). Dawn was the first woman to break 60 seconds for 100 metres freestyle (she held the world record for this event for 15 years) and also represented her country in the Rome and Tokyo Olympics. The Balmain swimming pool in Sydney Harbour was renamed after her.smiley

Thankyou for your email and thanks for correcting my spelling.

..

159 Answers

+17 votes
Yes, I am named after both of my Grandmother's first names. Sallie Stovall and Meryl Marie Densmore.
by Sally Stovall G2G6 Pilot (126k points)
I think that is awesome!  

I was named after my daddy's paternal grandma and her sister. :)  Daddy named me "Susie Annie"...Annie being his grandma. My mother had the final say and combined them into one name: Suzanne, and no middle name.
+26 votes

William Lewis Herndon (4th cousin, 5x) - father of Ellen Lewis (Herndon) Arthur (wife of President Chester Arthur)

  • Herndon Monument at the U.S. Naval Academy
  • Two Navy Ships were named USS Herndon
  • Towns of Herndon, Virginia and Herndon, Pennsylvania
William Henry Herndon (4th cousin, 5x) - law partner of President Abraham Lincoln
  • The Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices State Historic Site in Illinois

John Woolman II (6th great grandfather) 

  • The Woolman Institute was established at Wilmington College during the 1980's.
  • The John Woolman School was founded in 1963 in Nevada City, California.
  • The John Woolman Memorial Association was formed in Mount Holly to promote his teachings.
by Shonda Feather G2G6 Pilot (377k points)
edited by Shonda Feather
+23 votes
Dr. William Willis born in county Fermanagh, Ireland in 1837, has a Hall in Kagoshima University, Japan, named for him. Dr. William Willis was the founding Principal of the Satsuma-Han Medical School and lectured there for eight years.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Willis-4266
by Valerie Willis G2G6 Pilot (114k points)
My grandfather Charles Yuill was the Mayor of Barrhead, Alberta, Canada when it was a Village and then he was Mayor when it became a Town in 1927. He was also a Federal Member of Parliament for his riding in Alberta for two terms. After he passed away but before my grandmother passed the Town of Barrhead named a park “Charles Yuill Park” right across the street from the golf course he helped build. My grandmother was so honoured as were the rest of his extended family.
+24 votes

Sawert Rocks (Antartica) are named for my cousin Allen William Sawert smiley

by Jay Wickham G2G6 Mach 1 (12.4k points)
+18 votes
The road I live on was named for my husband's family, Cramer Road.  Many roads were named similarly about 75 years ago when the fire departments requested better  information for unnamed areas.
by Beulah Cramer G2G6 Pilot (565k points)
+19 votes

A new housing area in Lund, Sweden is called Sofieberg after the old farm that was there in the 1800s. The farm was built 1846 by my ancestor Påhl Johan, who named it after his wife Sofia.

by Maria Lundholm G2G6 Pilot (224k points)
+16 votes
There is a Woodward Ave., named after my husband's family, in Warrensburg, NY.
And, a Burbank Ave, named for my family in Bedford Hills, NY.
by Nancy Woodward G2G4 (4.4k points)
+17 votes

Klein Road in Williamsville, Erie County, New York is named after my ancestor John Klein. He was an immigrant from Alsace Lorraine, a shoemaker and bootmaker and owned much of the land where the road now lies.

by Craig Kanalley G2G6 Mach 1 (13.0k points)
+19 votes
Comings Cabin, a wilderness camp site in the Ventana Wilderness (in California). There is also Comings Creek nearby. The cabin is long gone, but the name remains. My paternal grandfather and some cronies owned it for a time in the early to mid 20th century. They called it "the ranch." My grandfather actually died there from a heart attack. My father and his brother sold it to the Forest Service in the early 1950s because by then it was entirely surrounded by federal land and the fire insurance premiums had gone through the roof; plus they were starting their own families by then and were just too busy at home to get out to the cabin much. My uncle at some point built a 4-wheel-drive road to the cabin, and part of the current hiking trail follows the road route. It is only accessible on foot now, and it's a 6-mile hike each way from the nearest trailhead. My father took a friend and me out there around 1975, backpacking. The cabin was still standing at the time, albeit extremely dilapidated.
by Carolyn Comings G2G6 Mach 5 (50.8k points)
+19 votes
Yes! The State of Delaware was named after my 11th great-grand uncle, Sir Thomas Richard West, 3rd Lord De La Warr.

The town of Hagin in Georgia. My maternal grandfather was a Hagin whose parents lived in Georgia.

Seaman’s Neck Road in Wantagh, Long Island, New York was named for my 10th ggf, Captain John Seaman.

There are other streets on Long Island, NY especially in Suffolk County.
by Susan Ellen Smith G2G6 Mach 7 (75.1k points)
+18 votes
Cottle county, Texas, was named after my mother's 2nd cousin three times removed George Washington Cottle (Cottle-221). He was in the battle for the Alamo.
by Tim Cagle G2G6 (8.2k points)
edited by Tim Cagle
+19 votes

There have been a lot of them.

On the Stong side, my father has a theorem named for him - the Hattori-Stong Theorem: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattori%E2%80%93Stong_theorem

I only wish that I knew what it meant.

On the Raczynski side, my mother's family has among, other things, the Raczynski Library in Poznan, the Raczynski Palace in Berlin (which was sold to the German government in 1874 and is now the site of the Reichstag) and the Tondo Raczynski (a Botticelli Madonna sold by grandfather shortly after World War II).

by Roger Stong G2G Astronaut (1.3m points)
+16 votes

Toronto's Ramsden Park was named after my 2nd great grand uncle, city alderman George Ramsden.

Ireland Drive in Trenton, Ontario is named for its former mayor and MPP, my wife's grandfather, W.H. Ireland.

And the Toronto neighbourhood of Mount Dennis took its name from the descendants of my 5th great grandfather, shipwright John Dennis.

by Richard Hill G2G6 Mach 9 (92.6k points)
+16 votes

A few things: the town of Greenwell Springs, Louisiana is named after my 1st cousin 5x removed Robert W. Greenwell; Greenwell Avenue in Summerland, California, is named for my 4th cousin 5x removed William E. Greenwell.

Rousby Hall Road in Lusby, Maryland, is named for Rousby Hall, which was built by my 7th great-grandfather John Rousby.

Cephas Child Road in Bucks County, Pennsylvania is named either for my 8th great-uncle Cephas Child, who was a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, or for his son Cephas.

by C Handy G2G6 Pilot (208k points)
edited by C Handy
+18 votes

In my family there is Price Settlement in New Brunswick (Canada) for my paternal grandmother's mother's side. In my wife's family there is a subspecies of screech owl (Otus asio maxwelliae)  was named for her great great grandfather's second wife (Martha Maxwell) and Maxwell Street in Boulder (Colorado) was named for him.

by Doug McCallum G2G6 Pilot (527k points)
+16 votes

Umlah Point, Nova Scotia, named after my maternal grandmother's 2nd great grandfather, John (Umlah) Umlach (1726-1821).

by John Thompson G2G6 Pilot (346k points)
+17 votes
Hilton Avenue and Court in Ashland, Kentucky, are named for my second great grandfather who laid out the streets and built several houses.
by P Richardson G2G Crew (710 points)
+14 votes
Bowes Road, in Vaughan, Ontario is named after the family of my third great grandfather Anthony Bowes, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bowes-832 , who came there in 1831 from Yorkshire, with his family.
by Mark Weinheimer G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
I believe William Bowes Boulevard, also in Vaughan, is named after his son.
+17 votes

There's an East and West Truslow Avenue in Fullerton, CA along with a modest city park.  Probably named for 2G Uncle Wallace Truslow who worked for the railroad in the area or his brother William who was a local jeweler.

There's a Truslow Street in downtown Charleston, WV (where both 2G uncles were born) named for a more distant ancestor.  100+ years ago it was a main street, now it dead ends into a mall.

There are also Truslow Roads in Stafford and  Fredericsburg VA, and Sarah MS.  Kingstown MD has a Truslow Road, Truslow Farm Road, and a Truslow Run.  

by Dorothy O'Hare G2G6 Mach 8 (87.7k points)
You don't have any relatives in the Chicago area, do you? Something pretty famous called O'Hare there...
+13 votes
Yes. I am named after 4 people. My maiden name is Liza Ida Kathleen Macklem. I was named after both grandmothers Ida (Renaud) Macklem and Kate or Kathleen (Welburn) Sauvé Smith. My grandmother Ida also had a first cousin Kathleen who was one of my godparents, while my grandmother Kate had a younger sister named Ida.
by Liza Gervais G2G6 Pilot (377k points)

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