Many of these names were devised during the reign of Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland who fell defending Ireland from the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 AD. Along with Riley, other Irish girl names in the US Top 1000 include Nora, Kennedy, Quinn, Reagan, Rowan, Finley, Cassidy, Sloane, and Teagan. The first was a spiritual or a saint's name in honor of a favorite saint. Here's how you can use the patterns to find your Irish ancestors. Naming patterns differed in the "back country" of early America, which was heavily populated by Scotch-Irish as well as German, Scandinavian, Irish, Scottish, French, and Dutch families. A Middle-Age name, it was common among the northern Uí Neill family, and the O’Hanleys of Connacht. Irish girls names Irish girls names A–D, their meaning, history and usage; Irish baby girl names E–M include the names of some fiercely strong women of legend; Traditional Irish female names from N–Z. Naming patterns were strong in my family while they were in Ireland. ; 2nd son named for maternal grandfather with grandmother’s maiden name as middle or second given name. The top Irish name for girls in the US is the surname-name Riley, a departure from the days when Kathleen and Bridget reigned as the most popular Irish names for girls. Irish Naming Patterns. Irish Naming Traditions Naming patterns are often important in genealogy research. Irish naming patterns I enjoyed reading the article on Irish naming and baptismal traditions and have a question that wasn't addressed. The form of a surname varies according to whether its bearer is male or female and in the case of a married woman, whether she chooses to adopt her husband's surname. Often this was the maiden surname of the child's mother or grandmother although sometimes a child's second name used the surname of a close friend. Middle names become very important. Naming Patterns. It represents thought and feelings and can be significant to the researcher. You will often see the same names used over and over again in families. After that, it hit or miss, mostly miss. However, where a specific name was considered important within the family, the name would usually be given to the next-born infant. As the Irish learned Latin in medieval Ireland these types of names were adopted into the Irish language. My own two middle names are from one paternal great grandmother, and one maternal great grandmother. While the common use of patronymics eventually died out, their influence is still apparent. ... "Middle names", do not seem to have been used in either Ireland or Scotland until some time after the 16th century. It has long been a custom in families around the world to name children after fathers, mothers, grandparents, and other important relatives or even friends. Irish Naming Traditions and Patterns. If you have a strong heritage to a particular country, your family may have followed a long standing naming tradition for first names. It may also be useful for those tracing their Irish family genealogy as the same names seem to crop up frequently within families: Oldest son named after the Father’s father; Naming patterns are sometimes obscured by deaths in infancy. I ran across a Clark line that has many people with variations of these same names. Surnames were quite frequently used as middle names, including the grandmothers’ maiden surnames. It's significant that the names you mention are traditional and saint's names and that the female middle names,at least, are names that have only been used here fairly recently(1960s). 2 given names for each child – often listed as initials in records. Old Irish Naming Patterns . 50 Common Irish Surnames Many of these early Irish surnames began as patronyms to identify a son separately from his father or a grandson from his grandfather. Of course, these patterns are helpful in tracing ancestors, but they can be confusing. Miscellaneous articles about Irish names The most popular name in Northern Ireland in recent years? ... Watkins and Smith are the middle names of 2 of his maternal uncles. Scots-Irish naming patterns: . Irish Naming Patterns: Discover Your Irish Origins from Names in a Family | Ancestral Findings Irish naming patterns were very precise for about two centuries. The PARENTAL Scottish Onomastic Child-naming Pattern Detecting the Parental Pattern and Drawing Inferences from it Comparative Incidence of the Two Patterns Other Factors That May Apply to the Scottish Onomastic Pattern: Prevalence; Re-Used Names; Middle Names Example Lineages: Scottish Scotch-Irish or Scottish-American In my own German family, I see Johann Adam, Johann George, Johann Jacob Hetzel and some favorite female names were Anna Barbara and Anna Margaret Hetzel, all within the same family! Irish baby names, such as Killian, Teagan and Caitlin, are gaining popularity as the hottest name trend because of their melodic and unique sound. Allow me to give a brief history of Irish naming practises as I see them. AF-011: Irish Naming Patterns: Discover Your Irish Origins from Names in a Family Irish naming patterns were very precise for about two centuries. Dec 2, 2015 - Very specific patterns were adhered to in Ireland for naming children. Naming patterns are sometimes obscured by deaths in infancy. It was common to give a child a middle name after the maiden name of the mother; Variations. There may be many differences, depending upon the Irish community. Posted on April 17, 2018 by jeffersgenealogy . 1st son named for paternal grandfather with mother’s maiden name as middle or second given name. Middle names. The Scots seemed to like complicating matters back in the day, as there was yet another set of naming patterns that used the names of ancestors rather than the parents' siblings. Irish Naming Patterns Posted on April 17, 2018 by jeffersgenealogy I thought I’d use my own great great grandparents family to demonstrate how the Irish typically named their children after their own parents and family members. This "ancestral pattern" was outlined by U.S. family historian, John B Robb, in his 2012 paper; "The Scottish Onomastic Child-naming Pattern" . The use of patronymics in Scotland was in part a result of early Scandinavian settlement into Scotland, which influenced naming patterns for centuries. ... Meg, Peggy or Alexander, Alex, Alec, Sandy), nicknames/pet names or middle names as first names. A formal Irish-language personal name consists of a given name and a surname.Surnames in Irish are generally patronymic in etymology, although they are no longer literal patronyms, as most Icelandic names are. May 4, 2018 - Irish naming patterns were very precise for about two centuries. These naming patterns are not iron clad, but were used extensively. In the later middle ages Irish forms of Anglo-Norman names 8 among the descendants of the invaders were relatively common, and intermarriages and alliances between the Irish and the colonists had their effect on the naming of children. Perhaps there’s an unusual name that has ... Irish Given, middle, family Gaelic, Saints, Irish or Anglicized Father’s father Scottish Given, middle, family Gaelic, Old Norse, English Father’s father Later research is then used to verify these family groups, such as Old Parish Records and census. Thus you can sometimes find two or more children of the … My grandfather's middle name is Sylvester. Irish girl names are on very different popularity tracks in the US and in Ireland itself. During the early - mid 19th Century it became more common for Scottish children to be given middle names. His sisters' middle names are Sylvannah and Zilpha. Nov 5, 2014 - Irish naming patterns were very precise for about two centuries. Given names are more important in a way because they represent a voluntary choice by the parents or, sometimes, by an individual. Top Irish boy names in 2012 in the Republic I also used naming patterns as a guide (because nothing is absolute in genealogy, as your article wisely points out) to discover my surname branches. Different religions have different naming patterns for given names. My grandfather, who was born in Boston in 1850 to Irish immigrant parents, had two sisters named Mary Ann and Mary Josephine, who were referred to my their middle names in subsequent records. 1st daughter, Anne Wood, named after her maternal mother. GERMAN NAMING PATTERNS: The custom of Germans was to give, at baptism, two names. Here’s how you can use the patterns to find your Irish … Forenames and gender - a practical search tip. However, surnames aren’t the only type of name you can use to trace your Irish ancestry. This is intended to be just a general guideline. Many genealogists use surnames to dig up their Irish roots. The patterns can aid in research, but then you end up with multiple families with children born around the same time with the same names. The tradition meant that cousins often had the same name, making following them through census records a little trickier, especially in a close knit community – you need to make sure that the record is for the correct William McDonald for example. However, where a specific name was considered important within the family, the name would usually be given to the next-born infant. In these rural areas, many given names were "Americanized," making it difficult for genealogists to … If a child died during the parent’s childbearing years, it was common to use that child’s name again. In both Ireland and Scotland, men used male given names, and women used female given names. All that's Lochlainn (Pronounced loch-lin) The name means Viking. Here's how you can use the patterns to find your Irish ancestors. This is an important and sound technique, because, as we’ve seen, surnames can often point to the Irish county from which your ancestors came. It's a double edged sword. TRADITIONAL IRISH NAMING PATTERNS Part of an article from Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO) For about two centuries (from the late 1700s through to the early to mid-1900s) the Irish favored a precise convention for naming their children that can suggest what names to look for in a previous generation. 3. 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