Article #130 What's in a Name?

Have you ever told your family how you came to have the name you have? Surnames come from our parents, generally our father’s last name unless you are more modern with both of your parent’s last names together. If you came from a culture with a particular tradition for surnames, your moniker will reflect that. (Photo of my father Stanley as a child, with his father Joseph Harold Vernon, his grandmother Sarah Elizabeth Malin and his great grandmother Alice Melissa Smith.)

Whenever I meet someone and find out their last name, being a genealogist at heart, I always want to know what the country of origin is for their surname. Most people know enough of their family legacy to know where their ancestors immigrated from or what ethnic group is part of their makeup.

First names traditionally were given to honor older family members and keep them in remembrance, but today’s modern families seem more concerned with having an unusual name or spelling that no one else has. Write down what you know about your own given name. Did you have a nickname as a child or adult? How do you feel about your name? In naming your own children did you honor any older family members?

Our surname represents only a hundredth part of the many surnames that got to get us to the point where we were born to one particular couple. Demonstrating the various names in your family with a pedigree chart will show your posterity where their ancestors came from. If you have any old family photos, it’s fun to add these to your family tree. Names, dates and places become more interesting when there is a face to put with them. (Photo above, my dad Stanley with his mother Mildred Lucille Stevens, her father George Geroy Stevens, and his mother Eliza Alice Maria Horten.)

You are now compiling your genealogy or family history. Roots that can show where your family came from, and the names that are part of your ancestry. Do you practice any of the traditions or customs from the nation/s of your ancestors? Have you ever visited any of the places they lived? If so, how did that feel?

What do you hope your family will remember about you after you are gone? Try writing a brief obituary to see what events are important enough in your life to represent your life. It may seem morbid, but can be an outline for writing your own life story. Or read obituaries for your parents or grand parents to get ideas on events in their life that were important. It’s time to get busy with writing their histories or your own, if it’s not done. You can do it.