Question of the Week: Who are you named after? [closed]

Question

Who were you named after? A family member? Someone famous?

Please tell us with an answer below. You could also answer on Facebook or upload the question image to any social media site. If you share it you may get family members talking.

Comments

I was named after Susan Hayward, the actress, by my daddy

Answer 1

My birth name is Alexis Clare Lovelace, and my mother named me after my father Clare Alexander Lovelace Jr.  He was reported missing in action in WWII for three months right before I was born. I have two letters from my father that show that he thought I would be a boy, and they had decided to name me David. Since my grandfather was Clare Alexander Lovelace Sr., I was also named after him.

Answer 2

I am named after both my grandmothers and my christening mother/meter

Answer 3

I was named after two of my great grandfathers: John Vaskie and Theodore Siefert. Grandpa John died a couple years before I was born, but I got to know Grandpa Ted and he was a hoot!

Answer 4

middle name LeRoy is after LeRoy Luther Pierce who was adopted. He died on D-Day 1945. As far as my first name, that was a trendy name of the 50's-Kevin

Answer 5

Nobody. My mother just liked the name.

Comments

It's a lovely name!  And you can start a new tradition with a clean slate. :)

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I was named Erin specifically because they didn't know anyone else with the name. I did use the name they "thought" they were going to name me, for my daughter though. Nothing wrong with just liking a name!

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Tabor - now that's a name!  I want it.

Answer 6

I was named after my mother's brother (Ralph) and my father's brother (James).

My brother George is named after my mother's grandfather, (George) and my father's grandfather (Henry).

Answer 7

My first name was from a penpal , my mother had in high school in her French class , The address is in the photo below , my middle name is from my father , his middle name was Lee , but my mother decided to spell it Leigh 

Answer 8

I was named for this guy, first pope, one of the three "pillars of the church" as Paul called them in Galatians 2:9 ... Peter, John (my middle name) and James (my only sibling's given name).  My parents were religious, but not particularly overt about it.

Comments

Be thankful they were not political. How does Millard Filmore sound? I notice you wear your hair different than your dad. Lookin' good!

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I have a Millard Fillmore Mount and Millard Fillmore Johnson in my family tree. I also have to other family members with Millard as their middle names.

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I've got em all. Geo washington, andrew jackson, thomas jefferson and I'll raise ya a couple jefferson davis'. I'm guessing the original Millard was mom's sir name.

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Me too! And don't forget all the Benjamin Franklins and Woodrow Wilsons. And of course military, Ulysses Grant is very common.

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Ulysses sounds cool though!

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We must be related!  My family abounds with Andrew Jacksons and Jeffersons (that aren't Thomas).  Somehow, a Henry Clay got mixed in.

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9c2r   Henry is17c4r

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Peter is my confirmation name. Be proud!

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to this day, when someone makes fun of my middle name that comes to mind. Be Proud!

Answer 9

I was named for both my dad's mother, Dorothy (Jones) Truslow, and my mom's best friend.  Each was led to belive I was named after her.  Fortunately, the two were never in the same place at the same time after my parents' wedding, so that potentially awkward scenario never happened.  

Comments

The use of the name "Elizabeth" in my family has a similar trajectory.  Which Elizabeth are you named for?  Whichever one is in the room.

Answer 10

I'm named after my grandmother Johanna and the Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina. My father accidentally/on purpose misheard and registered it as Johanna Karina.

My father always claimed that was what my mother and him had agreed on, but my mother said that it was supposed to be Johanna Karenina. I believe my mother on this, but I actually prefer the name I got, so that's fortunate.

Answer 11

I would love to claim that I was named after my Distant Ancestor [[Mac_Cennetig-10|Brian Bóruma mac Cennetig (abt.0940-1014)]] but actually I believe I was named after my father's [[Ryan-11213|mother's)]] maiden name Ryan - My mom just liked the name Brian over Ryan so I got the name Brian and my middle name Andrew is after My Maternal Grandfather [[Anderson-48555|Andrew Anderson]] and the many Andrew Andersons his line.

Answer 12

My siblings and I, sadly enough, were named after business associates and friends of, mostly, my father I think, or so I've been told. The exception is my sister who bears my mother's maiden name, Blair, as her middle name.

Answer 13

My twin sister and I were supposed to be a boy. Four days before our birth, they told our mother she was having twins and then we came out as identical girls. She only had a boy name picked out as the doctor had told her she most likely was carrying an active boy after all the movements she kept feeling. When she had to pick out two girl names, she had the Los Angeles newspaper in her hospital room and found my name (the story she told me anyways) in the obituary section. My twin sister's name was decided by the ladies at the telephone company where our grandmother worked.

Comments

Shonda, thank you for sharing your story about your name—the obituary section of the Los Angeles newspaper!

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My mother did say she was still in shock at having twins. Lol.

Answer 14

I have the reverse issue.  My father's favorite male name was Roger, which is why it is my name.

However, my maternal grandparents were not pleased because it has a troubled history in their family.  First, my maternal grandfather's uncle Roger von Budberg (1867-1926), who was a missionary doctor in China, but married a Chinese woman (to the scandal of his German Baltic family).  

Second, a cousin Roger Raczynski (1820-1864) tried to pass off an illegitimate child as a legitimate, resulting to the exclusion of his family from inheriting certain entailed properties.

So far, I have not become the third story on the list.

Comments

Roger, it's not too late. 

Answer 15

The spider in the E.B. White novel. Charles is an old name for men on one side of the family, so that too.

Comments

Charlotte is such a beautiful name! I love Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and the Trumpet of the Swan. My children and grandchildren had this collection, too.

Answer 16

I am named after 4 people. I was born Liza Ida Kathleen Macklem. My grandmothers were Ida (paternal) and Kate/Katherine (maternal). In addition, my grandmother Ida was close to her first cousin Kathleen while my grandmother Kate had a sister named Ida.

Comments

My goodness!  I hope you never had a sister -- your parents had already used up all the family names!!

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Lol! Actually, I am number 5. I have two sisters, then two brothers, then me. My brothers got our grandfathers names. There are very few girls on my dad’s side of the family so they were surprized when my sisters were born (no ultrasounds back then).

Answer 17

I don't know. My mother put some names in a hat and came out with Lucille. She got the name, no, not from Lucille Ball, but from Big Lucille and Little Lucille. She doesn't remember if they were relatives or friends of my father's family. Well, I don't see them in my tree and I looked very hard. I am guessing they were friends of my aunt Maryann who has recently passed. I was planning on going through the 1950 US Census and see if I could find them. One problem is that if they were schoolmates, lots of towns went to the same high school back then.

It was the late 1950s when my mother knew them, so they could have even lived in Brooklyn or somewhere in 1950. She thought they were funny.

Speaking of funny. Funny story. One of the other names in the hat was Patricia. Hahahahaha. Okay, that's not funny in and of itself, but when I was in elementary school, one of my best friends was Patricia Stevens. We followed each other alphabetically, were both the tallest in the class, and, drumroll please - we have the same birthday!

Comments

I’m not named after anyone in particular but the “same birthday” comment is interesting. My birthday is June 1 and I have a first cousin (younger) who shares the same birthday and lives not far from me. There also was a girl I knew in childhood who was born on the same day as me. Until I got into genealogy a few years ago I didn’t know that she was a cousin too. Her grandparents lived a few houses from me and we visited a lot. Turns out her great grandmother and my grandmother were sisters. I’ve tried contacting her but haven’t found her yet. One of my brothers was a New Year baby, and that younger cousin had twin brothers who were Christmas babies. (Lousy dates for birthday presents!)

Answer 18

My mom [[Crawford-6946|Joelle (Crawford) Colville (1914-2011)]]

Answer 19

I was named by my mother who named me after my father.,

Karl Edwin Oman, he wanted to name me Gayle, so that

ended up being my middle name.

Answer 20

My birth name was Elizabeth, Amacker Bullwinkle. I dropped the Elizabeth legally as my family went by middle names, and other people assumed my name was Elizabeth and I got tired of explaining it. I was named after Elizabeth Amacker (Amacker was her husband’s surname.) I’m trying to track down her details. I believe she was from Louisiana. Her descendent, Elizabeth Amacker Womack, founded Oaklawn Plantation in Louisiana. Elizabeth Amacker  Became a matriarchal lineage name. And I am the last.