[#6518] Naming Customs

[Gjest robert d. sabo]

I have two questions which I need to understand better. First, in a couple of instances, the names of children were exactly opposite what custom required with no obvious reason. ex. the first son being given the mothers fathers name and second son given the paternal grandfathers name. Was this ok to do or is there some special case where this was done?

[Gjest robert d. sabo]

Second question. When a baby died and a second baby was given the name of the deceased child, did it make a difference whether the first child was baptized or not? Did the deceased baby's name have to be used again under all conditions or were there situations where the requirement was met and a new name could be given? Thank you. rds

[Gjest Marianne Hella]

I don't know a lot about this, but the theme was debated a while ago. I have translated some of the information for you (thanks to the people who supplied it in the first place!), and while it may not answer your questions, I hope you find it of interest. Sometimes two children were given the same name, even if the older one actually survived childhood. This happened if the oldest child was weak and the parents were unsure if it would live. They may also have had two grand-parents by the same name, and the parents had to name one child for each grand-parent. Sometimes the oldest child was grown and had moved out when they decided to give a new child the same name. An old belief said that if the parents named the children after themselves, they would have no more children – so this was used as a contraceptive! In the 16th and 17th century they did NOT name children after living persons, as they feared that the child would drain the strength and power from the person whose name was used. They did not name children after dead siblings, as the name might be cursed... But this changed later, into the customs of the 18th and 19th century as mentioned.

[Gjest Kenneth Holter]

First question: The special case is when the farm on which the couple lives has been inherited through the female. Then (at least in the majority of these cases) the firstborn child will be named after her parents instead of the males parents.Kenneth

[Gjest tom askeroi]

A small addition to Kenneth's answere: It could olso be that her parents "outrank" his parents. The couple could then honour her parents by naming after them first (it could be more to inherit from them that way...). It could also be that his parents were not wed. Then he usually did not name after his parents at all. It is also possible that not all children are registered or not in the list because they are dead. (Is there room for other children before the ones you know of?) And if they got a farm from someone else (neither parents) they would name after the ones who "gave" them the farm - and they could happen to have the same names as her parents.And are you shure it's his first marriage - could children named after his parents have been born in a previous marriage?As you see, there could be numerous reasons for naming the children after her parents (first?). You'll have to know a lot about a couple to tell why.To your second question: I don't believe the "rules" were as strict in this case. But I do believe that they did not name after a dead child - they gave the same grandfather/grandmother or whoever the child had his/her name from a second chance! And some waited till another child had been named in between, some didn't. The answer here is depending on WHEN it happen (practise changed) and how supersticous the parents were...Hopefully this would be of some help - and that my "english" is understandable. If you don't understand I'll be glad to try again...

[Gjest robert d. sabo]

To Marianne, Kenneth ad Tom I very much appreciate theinformation all three of you provided and assure all of you that each answer helped me greatly. All of them fit the facts as I have them and help me to better understand wht I'm looking at. Marianne's and Tom's answers complement each other nicely in the sense that the new baby is not named after the deceased child. The grandparents are getting a second chance.Thanks again, and Tom, yur English is great, as it is withMarianne and Kenneth. You are far ahead of me as I know virtually no Norwegian, much to my regret. Thanks rds