Genealogy Chat

i decided to spend today working out how many people have got the same name etc. i have then turned this info into a graph ( i know it's going to change as i add more people but i am going to date it and stick it in the file). the most popular name for my ladies was MARY with 53 having it, then was ELIZABTH with 41 SARAH with 31. the most popular name for my men was JOHN with 64 having it, then was WILLIAM with 60, then GEORGE with 38.

Elizabeth!.. followed by Sarah,John, Thomas, William and Charles, a few Henrys, a handful of James and a sprinkling of Emmas. When my first daughter was born I named her Elizabeth. 'Why Elizabeth?' relatives asked. 'THere are no Elizabeths in our family'. Little did they know! Since I have been doing my tree I have found dozens of Elizabeths in all branches down the generations.M

How did you work it out, you didnt go through your tree counting, did you?

Depends on the branch. For my surname it's William, Thomas & Eliza. For my paternal grandmother's - George, John & Ann. etc, etc, etc. Ozi.

At the moment - I've only counted half way through - for the girls the top ten are Annie (19), Emma (21), Eliza (22), Alice (26), Ellen (29), Jane (30), Sarah (59), Ann (71), Elizabeth (73) and Mary (91). For the boys, it's Albert and Alfred (12), Arthur (13), Edward (27), Joseph (33), James (43), Henry (54), George (57), Thomas (66), William (97) and John (104).

yea i di count through in a way. i worked through the list of people on ancestry and did a tick chart and added new names as i came across them, then i sat and put them in alphabetical order and then drew the graphs out. (1 male 1 female).

He he yummy mummy, you can come and do mine if you want. I just know I'll get half way thru and the phone will ring....

i've got loads of 'Williams'!!! really confuses me at times! think my ancestors liked that name!

I haven't worked out the most popular name on my tree - but I know what the most unpopular names are! My G Grandmother Agnes Amelia - only called that on her birth cert and on 1881 census, when she was 2, and where it was mistranscribed as Avril!! Otherwise known as Amelia. Her sister Beatrice Isobel - born after 1881, known throughout her life as Bella. Twins Elizabeth Ada and Martha Kate - known throughout their lives as Kate and Ada My G Grandfather. Nice unusual name - Gifford, His real name was on his birth certificate and 1891 census - thereafter known as Sidney. So tracing him backwards was murder!! His brother Ivan - same as above - known as Fred My grandad's best mate - known to my mum as 'Uncle Stan' - real name George!! At least the women used their second names, the men chose names that weren't even second or third names!! I'd love to find out how they chose them!! maggie

I know I have oodles of Mary's and John's in my tree, but the rarest names I have are ones like Decator, Tryphena, Decima, Marquis, Latham, Luna, Delsey and Veridan. And my father's father's middle name was Handel - apparently named after the composer. His brother's was Vaughn -possibly after the composer Vaughn Williams. Shame his other brothers just had ones like Henry and Thomas!

Francis or Frances and to cap it all back in the 1830s a Francis married a Frances and they had twins (girl and boy) and guess what? they called them Francis and Frances!!!! aaahhhhhh! The 1851 census enummerator must have been bald by the time they left one house as there were 6 people in the house 5 with the same surname and 4 of them called Francis/es. However on the plus side I have Botry, Shreeve, Eversfield, Pelling, Gillery, Paynton and Stainsby as first names which does make life a little easier at times. Harriet

So many of mine and my husbands lot have the same names - John, Mary etc etc, I decided to name my kids unusual names (Sharna and Katia), which Im sure their ancestors in years to come will thank me for lol, while they're poring over the census reports. Just to make sure, they have unusual middle names too.

Finally finished counting properly (after 2 days!). For the boys, we have William (255), John (242), Thomas (150), George (123), James (113), Henry (106), Joseph (84), Robert (51), Richard (46) and Charles and Edward in joint tenth place with 45 each. For the girls, Mary (229), Elizabeth (190), Ann (162), Sarah (102), Jane (89), Ellen (65), Alice (64), Margaret (51), Anne (45) and Hannah (42). Bizarrely, I have 246 different girls names altogether and only 191 different boys names.

Elizabeth...Eliza...My most popular female. For males it is a close call between William and Henry/Harry. For the least used I can honestly say I have a GGGrandfather named David and the name doesn't appear before or after him anywhere in my tree until I married one, my ex husband ;) Chris

Thomas Abraham , Thomas Abraham......., Guess what I called my son before I started my Tree ? Thomas Michael Phew , was close ! xx

hello looked at my tree and the most popular are.... Girls- Elizabeth Mary Jane Hannah Ellen Boys names... James William Thomas Joseph John They are some unusual ones too... Roxiana Paraysitis Maggie (not margaret they were baptised maggie) Jonas Josiah and Moses. Sharmala.