Recently someone posted on Facebook a link to this article about Hispanic names trending down among the Hispanic population in the U.S. Names like William, Mark and Theodore are prefered over Guillermo, Marco and Teodoro. I didn’t pay much attention to it at first, but then my niece was born just over a week ago and her name got me thinking about the subject again. She was named Leena Raquel. Lina is my mother’s nickname, so she was named after her, but my sister and brother-in-law chose to spell the baby’s name with two e’s so that it would be more of a name and less of a nickname and also so it would be easier for English speakers to pronounce correctly. Raquel is the name of one of my brother-in-law’s grandmothers.

Naming patterns are very helpful in genealogical research. There are many articles out there on what the naming patterns in different countries have been and how useful they are in genealogy. You need simply do a search online.

I’ve often wondered if I would give any of my children family names. A few of times, I’ve looked at my pedigree chart specifically to see if any names looked appealing. I have to admit that I have yet to find a name I could use. I have great respect and appreciation for my ancestors and know they were amazing men and women. I just don’t think my children would forgive me for naming them Estanislao, Refugio or Nepomuceno, all of which are names of my ancestors. Fortunately, there is much work still do be done on my family lines. I may yet find a family name I could use. And there’s always my future husband’s family to draw names from, too.

Did you use family names for your children? If you are in the same boat as I am and need to extend your lines to increase your pool of family names to draw from, we at ProGenealogists would be happy to assist you.