I was thinking about the trend towards using surnames as first or mn’s. I thought we could list some names in our family trees and our spouses that might be good first or middle names. I’ll start:
Ansbury
[name]Way[/name]
[name]Jones[/name]
Guyer
[name]Barlow[/name]
Troxell
Musser/[name]Mercer[/name]
Rouse
Widener
Messer
Gundy
Sheets
[name]Hager[/name]
[name]Patterson[/name]
Anyone else have some interesting surnames in your trees?
This should be fun. I just recently researched my maternal side.
[name]Howard[/name]
[name]Winters[/name]
Stilwell (not the best for a first or mn)
[name]Lowe[/name]/Loww
[name]Asbury[/name]
Lamberson
Haskins
Colwell
[name]Becker[/name]
[name]Monroe[/name]
[name]Van[/name] [name]Patten[/name]
Leach (not the best either)
Nottage
Cornett
Stamper
Creech
[name]Smith[/name]
The ones I could see using are [name]Winters[/name] I heard it was really [name]Winter[/name] and the s got added some where a long the line, [name]Howard[/name] and [name]Monroe[/name].
I like [name]Becker[/name] and [name]Lowe[/name]. They would make good middle names.
What a great way to find some unusual names!
[name]Olson[/name]
[name]Kavanagh[/name]
Haller (pronounced [name]Hal[/name]-er, not Holl-er)
[name]Day[/name]
Lapham (Lap-uhm)
[name]Britton[/name]
Breckinridge
Cutrer (Kuh-trare, rhymes with there)
We have actually discussed using [name]Britton[/name] for a girl, but we’re both afraid it would be confused with [name]Brittany[/name] (ugh). I also love the idea of [name]Breckin[/name] for a boy.
My thought also was that if someone wants to honor a family member but doesn’t like their first or mn and/or it is too popular or has already been used by other family members, then an option might be using great-grandma’s maiden surname, etc. Children were often given their mother’s maiden surname in the past as a mn and that might still be a great option for some parents.
I think that is a great idea. I love my great grandmother’s maiden name - [name]Winter/name. I know I’m not going to use it but the fact that it’s there for other family members to use or even for my own children when they start a family, makes me happy.