The History of Given Names

Throughout history, parents in Britain have named their children according to traditions, conventions and customs, based on family ties, social status, and religious influences. From following generational naming patterns to choosing middle names to reflect lineage or social standing, these naming conventions reveal much about the values and traditions that shaped British families over the centuries.

Honouring Relatives

Perhaps the most common convention was to name a child after honoured people, especially members of the family. To avoid upsetting anyone, parent’s might have followed the following convention.

The selection of names for sons followed the order of grandparents, parents, and uncles:

• The first was named after the paternal grandfather
• The second was named after the maternal grandfather
• The third was named after the father
• The fourth was named after the oldest paternal uncle
• The fifth was named after the second oldest paternal uncle or the oldest maternal uncle

The names of daughters followed a similar pattern:

• The first was named after the maternal grandmother
• The second was named after the paternal grandmother
• The third was named after the mother
• The fourth was named after the oldest maternal aunt
• The fifth was named after the second oldest maternal aunt or the oldest paternal aunt

To avoid duplicate names, parents selected the next name on the list. For example, if both grandmothers had the same name, then the parents named their second daughter after her mother.

It would appear that about 25% of names given to children in the Campton family follow this convention. This figure might be higher because there are some people missing from the maternal lines.

Two children in the family with the same given name often indicated an infant mortality. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, parents may have given their newborn baby the name of a deceased sibling. Although very rare, parents sometimes gave the same name to more than one living child.

Others Honoured in Name Giving

Parents also honoured powerful individuals when choosing names for their children. Naming children after monarchy made names like William, George and Henry become fashionable, especially in the London area. Naming children after powerful and wealthy landowners might have been to gain recognition from dignitary.

Biblical names were popular, especially with nonconformists. Thomas, John and Gabriele are examples from the Campton family.

Middle Names

Before the twentieth century, it was not uncommon for illegitimate children to have the father’s surname as a middle name to indicate parentage. An example of this practice is James Preston Money (1843-1870), who was born a year before his parents’ marriage.

Families carefully chose middle names to honour others, including family, friends, monarchs, landowners and heroes. They also derived them from other people’s surnames, such as those of godparents and heroes.

Another reason why people gave middle names relates to creating double-barrelled surnames and allowing names to remain in society.

Changes to the Given Name

Vicars reportedly misheard the child’s name at the baptism service, leading to them baptizing the child with a wrong name, which the clerk then recorded. Parents’ lack of literacy meant that they didn’t check and even if they were literate they were reluctant to question authority. A forgetful, and possibly inebriated, father may make a similar mistake in reporting the name of his child.

Sometimes people disliked their given name and chose a nickname or another preferred name. An example of this on this website is Leonard Victor Howell, who went by the name of Pete. No one knew why, not even Pete himself!

Apparently, members of a household referred to their servants using first names associated with the role. For example, Eliza was always the parlour maid, Mary the cook and George the coachman. Successive employees adopted the names whilst in service.