Handed Down Names

Many of us have "handed down" names in our family, passed down from father to son, grandmother to granddaughter. It's sometimes how we end up with families using the same names over and over again. It's common in most nationalities. 

But what about the other names that often puzzle us as genealogists that aren't family names at all. Where did they get handed down from?

Many of us have relatives named Lorenzo Dow. The first time, I was puzzled - who in the family was he named after? But after I'd seen it several times,  I found out where it came from. 

Lorenzo Dow was a traveling preacher who was really popular in the early 1800s. Born in Connecticut, Lorenzo Dow traveled to Ireland and England, he traveled around New England and New York -- and traveled as far away as the Mississippi Territory. He preached to large crowds and seemed to have been everywhere before he died in 1834. People all around the country knew about him, heard him preach, read his book, and named their children after him.

I recently encountered another name that puzzled me -- Elmer Ellsworth McClaran. I could find no other Elmer's in the family. There were no connections to an Ellsworth. So where did that name come from? 

Elmer's father, John T. McClaran, was a Union Civil War veteran, and that was my first hint. Elmer Ellsworth was the first Union officer to die in the Civil War. Because he was a close friend to Abraham Lincoln, his death was highly publicized and "Remember Ellsworth" was a call to serve in the Union Army. While I don't know for sure who Elmer Ellsworth McClaran was named after, it's a good bet his name was "handed down" from this Union hero.

Other "handed down" names can provide clues to the political leanings of ancestors. Most of us have encountered family members named after various presidents, particularly George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Jackson. But if you encounter someone named after Robert E Lee, the family was likely to have been Southern sympathizers. Someone named after DeWitt Clinton likely had New York roots. 

When looking at your family's names, consider the outside sources that prompted naming - and what it might tell you about your family. These are all hints that help us flesh out our family! 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week's topic for #52 Ancestors was "Handed Down." Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for putting together 52 prompts!!