Family surnames as first names.

[Millmoor]

SB - no as had no reason to look. You could look for yourself.

[coombs]

I find Essex ancestors are quite hard to research due to the poor coverage on the IGI although FreeReg is indexing more and more. Maybe I should help and start transcribing myself. SEAX is good but it still involves browsing only.

I have a Lorken Wallaker in my tree, but no record yet of a Lorken/Lorking in the family tree yet. And Otley Lucking of Foulness. Otley's paternal gran was Elizabeth Otley, originally from Suffolk.

[bykerlads]

In the Holmfirth area of West Yorkshire, there was a long tradition of giving one son his mother's surname as his first name.
Thus, we have a Sykes Briggs, a Schofield Sykes and a Ranfield Hirst in our immediate tree.
Such names as Brook Turner, Green Armitage, Mellor Haigh, Beaumont Swallow were very common at one time.

[Jebber]

Four first names that occur in my tree, Leggett, Major, Ridgeway and Young.

Many more used as middle names, my own son has my maiden name as a middle name.

Jebber

[JAKnighton]

I have a few instances of this.

Harrison Bunning, son of John Bunning and Rebecca Harrison.

Blanchflower Dack, son of Francis Dack and Susan Blanchflower.

Sweatman Revell, son of Thomas Revell and Frances Sweatman.

In those last two cases I think the sons did not appreciate it!

[coombs]

I found a Thomas Smith Plumb born 1785 in Leigh On Sea, Essex. Parents Thomas and Elizabeth (Saveall) Plumb.

And a Margaret Robjent Boosey, Robjent was the name of a married aunty of Margaret Boosey.

And Richard Otley Sparke born in Foulness in 1767, his dad was Richard Sparke, born in 1741, maternal half brother of Elizabeth Lucking (Nee Otley). Her dad Sam Otley died in 1736 and her mum Susan Otley (Nee Deeks) remarried to a John Sparke in 1737. So Richard Otley Sparke was given a middle name after his grandmothers first hubby Samuel Otley, who was no blood relation to him.

[iolaus]

My grandfather's middle name was Cherry - which turned out to be his mother's maiden name, which then made more sense as up to then just wondered why he had a girl's name.

I've also got a Wookey in my family tree, which was from his mother's family

[clairec666]

Richard Otley Sparke born in Foulness in 1767, his dad was Richard Sparke, born in 1741, maternal half brother of Elizabeth Lucking (Nee Otley). Her dad Sam Otley died in 1736 and her mum Susan Otley (Nee Deeks) remarried to a John Sparke in 1737. So Richard Otley Sparke was given a middle name after his grandmothers first hubby Samuel Otley, who was no blood relation to him.

I've found Ottley being used as a first name in 1917 by a descendant of our Lucking family - I wonder if they knew the origins of the name?

[smudwhisk]

Sometimes the family connection to the surname goes back a few generations.  I have William Redmore Ray, a clockmaker from Sudbury, whose middle name relates to his paternal grandmother Ann Frost's mother's maiden name (mind you she also had a brother Redmore Frost).  Other members of the Ray family were given family names as middle names too.  And Ann Frost's great uncle was Isaac Redmore from Glemsford, more than likely named after his mother Alice Isaak rather than just the use of the name Isaac which hadn't occurred previously in the Redmore family.