Interestingly, there was somewhat of a ‘pattern’ to the assignment of first names in days past. According to an article by the Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois, the old naming pattern was: 1st son: named after the father’s father, 2nd son: named after the mother’s father, 3rd son: named after the father, 4th son: named after the father’s eldest brother, 5th son: named after the mother’s eldest brother, 6th son: named after the father’s second eldest brother. 1st dau: named after the mother’s mother, 2nd dau: named after the father’s mother, 3rd dau: named after the mother, 4th dau: named after the mother’s eldest sister.

This is the same list of names on the Early Settler pages, by country of origin, if known.

Anderson, Blakeley, Caldwell, Cannon, Croning, Ewing, Farley, Fergus, Gilfillen, Ginn, Graham, Harper, Hickey, Holmes, Johnston, Marshall, McFarland, Patterson, Quinn, Starrett, Walkup, Wilson

SCOTLAND
Jackson, Lenox, Murray, Smart

SWITZERLAND
Echemann, Gerber

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