czwartek, 29 czerwca 2017

Naming patterns and children of Michael Tolkien

From "The Importance of Names and Naming Patterns. Why are Names Important and What Can you Learn from a First Name?" by Donna Przecha
"You will often see the same names used over and over again in families. While certain names are popular in different areas in different times in history, the repetition could represent a pattern. Many cultures believe in honoring their elders and do so by naming children after them. Angus Baxter in "In Search of Your British and Irish Roots" describes a pattern that was popular in England in the 1700-1875 period: 
  • The first son was named after the father's father 
  • The second son was named after the mother's father 
  • The third son was named after the father 
  • The fourth son was named after the father's eldest brother 
  • The first daughter after the mother's mother 
  • The second daughter after the father's mother 
  • The third daughter after the mother 
  • The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister  (...)"

One document from 1744 and two brothers: Michael and Christian Tolkien from Gdańsk, and Euphrosina

If this pattern applied to the Gdańsk family of Michael Tolkien (1708-1795), we could reconstruct the forms of names of the further J.R.R. Tolkien's ancestors. Let us try (using data from my recent research; see "Tolkien's ancestors found..."):

(Johann) Gottfried – Michael Tolkien's father?
(Johann) Daniel – Euphrosina Matthießen's father?
Michael – father's name? (positive!)
Benjamin – father's eldest brother?
Christian – father's second-eldest brother? (positive!)*

Anna Elisabetha – Euphrosina's mother?
Euphrosina Regina – Michael's mother?
Dorothea Constantia – after mother not; maybe after mother's eldest sister?  

But...
This could be a very helpful formula, but many genealogists warn against giving it too much credence. Given human nature, it would be very difficult to follow exactly. It would be pretty hard to convince a new mother of her first-born son to name him after a drunken, abusive father-in-law rather than her own beloved father who had just died.
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* I suppose Christian Tolkien, father of Daniel Gottlieb (and Johann Benjamin?) was Michael Tolkien's brother

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