“Why is your child’s name Zipporah?”
If I’d married a man named Smith, that would have been a great question.
But, I married someone with an uncommon name, which gave me the freedom to name my children all the basic, non-unusual family names which sprinkle our family tree.
When a child asked, I explained that while Anne may not seem all that exciting, she’s named for a host of women whose DNA floats through her.
Since I’m a genealogist, I can pull up the stories.
Matching a child’s name with family photos
Three young girls in my family were here today and we spent a fun 20 minutes talking about names and faces.
I’ve been scanning family photos and could pull up one girl’s great-grandmother’s photo.
“You were named for her.”
I told them stories of her college years, why she made the choices she did, how much she loved her family, and how she would have enjoyed these little girls.
We turned to older photos and counted the number of great-greats on our fingers.
My grandmother, her great-great-grandmother, shares a name with my granddaughter.
The little girl peered closer. “Really?”
My other grandmother shares the same name–with an Italian flare. We’ll get to her another time.
With those connections made, they wanted to hear stories.
The stories and photos took us all over American history and even to the question, “What are mumps?”
She’s been vaccinated and will never see them in her lifetime.
But someone took a photo of my grandmother with a very swollen face!
How do you match a child’s name with a family story?
Start with the connection.
Children named Anne, Elizabeth, Mary, Rose, or a host of other fairly common names, often appear in my family tree.
For genealogists, unusual names provide “markers” for finding family lines.
Ballard, for example, is a family name.
“What kind of a name is Ballard?’ my sister-in-law, understandably, asked.
It took me years, but I learned it’s an historic family name–which enabled me to trace one our lines to colonial America.
Thomas Ballard sold a cow to a man named Nathaniel Bacon one day in 1675.
Shortly thereafter, Bacon led a Rebellion against the Virginia Colony.
Ballard’s wife ANNE was used as a hostage during the rebellion. Ballard himself tried to mediate.
Bacon called Ballard a, “wicked and pernicious counselor.”
And with that, we’re able to link a child’s name to a moment of historic importance.
(We have, however, declined to name anyone Ballard for three generations so far).
Making connections with current family members
A friend’s granddaughters are named for their great-grandparents, one of whom is still alive.
Telling children family history stories is a powerful way to link them with the past and their present.
It’s a way of widening their understanding of who they are within the family tree, but also can make a connection between the child and the great-grandparent she sees on a Facetime screen.
My friend is headed off to see her mother soon and I’ve written a list of questions.
The hope is, she can sit down and either record or film, her mother answering them for her great-grandchildren.
(Cell phones make this SO easy to do–assuming your subject will talk and tell stories!)
My friend can then make a book of family photos and include short stories for her granddaughters.
Connection made.
Perfect.
Questions to ask/answer about a child’s name and family history
- Why did your parents name you __________? (Ballard’s mother died when he was a toddler. I doubt he knew).
- Were you named for anyone in particular? (One Ballard’s mother gave all eight children family heritage names! I love Elizabeth Ballard Smith!)
- What does your name mean to you? Do you like it? (Oswald Chambers didn’t like his first name. Who knew?)
- How did your name affect your life? (Everyone assumes I’m French. You have to go back to 1701, but I am!)
- Tell me about your childhood.
- Who did you play with? What sort of games did you play? (Have the kids heard of hopscotch?)
- How old were you when you learned to read? What were your favorite books? (Consider reading one to the children yourself. My mother used to make tapes of herself reading a book and then send the book and tape to the children)
- Did you know your grandparents? What were they like? What were their names? (Bonus questions for budding genealogists.)
- What kind of toys did you have? (My mother always claimed she only had one crayon and it was black. Was that true?)
- What sort of clothes did you wear? (Why couldn’t you wear jeans to school?)
- Do you like to sing? Do you play a musical instrument?
- What were your favorite songs? Nursery rhymes?
- Did you ride a bike?
- Did you learn how to swim? Where?
- What was your favorite movie where you were little? TV show?
- What was my [name the parent/grandparent] like as a little girl/boy?
What’s the reason to tell a child family stories?
Family stories match our heritage.
They’re ways to teach about your beliefs, traditions, joys, and sorrows in a personal setting.
One granddaughter is studying the California Gold Rush. She knew about the Oregon Trail. But hearing her 4xs-great-grandmother walked it, brought the reality alive.
Especially when I showed her Kirsten’s picture, and pointed to the organ she bought sitting in our living room.
Then the descendent of pioneers sat down, started pumping, and played.
History, family, names, were alive!
Tweetables
Using photos to make family history connections. Click to Tweet
How to use questions and photos to share family history. Click to Tweet
I love this! In college, I was a camp counselor in the summers and one week I ended up with a little girl in my cabin whose name (first and last) matched that of my great-grandmother before she was married. The little girl was terribly homesick and so I mentioned the coincidence to try to put her at ease. She told me that she was named after a distant aunt several generations back, and when we pieced together where she was from with the little bits of family history we both knew, we figured out she was most likely named for my great-grandmother. I told her everything wonderful I remembered about the woman who had lent her her name. After that, she was completely comfortable and had a great week at camp!
Also, I never really thought about the unusual names as being markers, but that’s absolutely true. As a writer of historical fiction, I always encourage people to journal, because that makes for some of the very best sources for future historians. I think I will add to that advice to consider naming a child something a little bit unusual.
Wonderful story, Sarah! I love to read about serendipities like that one.
Yes, the marker names were crucial in my putting together my genealogies. My father, son, and nephew all bear a name that traces back to the 17th century–in one guise or another (first, middle, last–we got them all!). When I realized the windfall I had in one mother making sure her seven sons carried all the historic family surnames, my family tree got really big!
When I finally learned the origin of my much-hated middle name, I understood it’s significance a lot better (and then traced the family line back five more generations!) and appreciated it for the first time.
The names were only the beginning for the children–who were these people and what else did I get from them?
Enjoy!