Why do you think?

[kentish kate]

On my last post on this board I was given a list of Kents from Mevegissey. All the children seem to have the same parents but 2 have the middle name Williams.Now I thought that middle names were usually the family name of the bride, why do you think this was, when the brides name was STEPHENS? I hope someone has any ideas because it's driving me potty |banghead|. Many thanks
Kate.

[Wilkes_ml]

Could be maternal or paternal grandmother's maiden name - I have seen that before.

Michelle

[MarkJ]

Although as you say Kate, the general idea is to use the mothers maiden name, there are occasionally other relative lines used. One of my lot used the maternal grandmothers maiden name Peters as a middle name for my grandfather as Michelle mentions. It seemed odd, but as the tree unfolded, the maternal grandmother died earlier in the year before my grandfather was born, so his middle name was used as a mark of respect to her. Keep your options open - it could be any female relation who donated the name - but most likely not more than a generation or two back.

Mark

[Davran]

The middle name can be carried on for generations. My gtgrandmother was a Forsyth, who married a Knox. My grandfather was James FORSYTH Knox and my uncle was Philip FORSYTH Knox.

[Peter Goodey]

West Country middle names have their own rules (or lack of rules). One of my Devon ancestors has a middle name which was her great grandmother's maiden name.

Keep digging - you'll get there.

There a brief note in GenUKI on the subject...

http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/DevonMisc/MidnameNotes.html

[Mythology]

One of mine has a middle name which is the surname of the Minister of the chapel they attended at the time.
Two of mine, different surnames but their mothers are sisters, have a middle name which is the surname of the fellow that another sister of their mothers married.
One has a middle name which is the surname of a totally unconnected posh family, which appears to have been hijacked from a monument in a church near to where her uncle lived.
(Edit - she also has a surname as a "silly" first name. If I was the baptising minister, I'd have said to the parents "Oh, come on - you don't really want me to write that down, you're having a laugh, aren't you?")

Middle names can often be a useful clue to some kind of connection, so may be helpful, but what the connection is should never be assumed - there may not even be one!

[kentish kate]

Hi folks,thanks ever so much for your input, why oh why can't they just make things simple. I'll go off and have a look at the igi indexes for clues.:confused: