A Family Pattern

           What can I talk about here?  We have naming patterns, occupation patterns, and schooling.  What have I already wrote about?

Earning a Living:  Farming, a Family Tradition – February 2024 I wrote about the Kludt family being saloon/inn keepers, farmers, and mechanics.

Naming patterns – I thought I had talked about that before but I’m not seeing it.  I have several examples of different types of naming patterns in both my family and my husband’s family.

One pattern is switching the first and middle names.  This started with my great-grandfather on my Dad’s side, William Edward Kludt.  Papa (or Grandpa) was named Edward William Kludt.  My Dad was William Edward Kludt.  The pattern ended with my brother, Edward William Kludt.

Another pattern is based on the Mennonite/Quaker faith.  Here, the middle name is the mother’s maiden name.  Discovered this in my husband’s paternal side.  It seemed to have started back in Pennsylvania with the Shontz family.  Both Jacob and his wife were born in Switzerland and 

immigrated to Pennsylvania.  Did they start the tradition?  I don’t know but it is possible that their son’s middle name was Erb.  The same appears to have happened with the Hunsberger and Tyson families.

 

It seemed to have ended with Abraham Shontz as none of his children appeared to have the Heckert name as their middle name.  Then it’s possible that they left the Mennonite faith.

We know it continues with the Heistand, Landis, Ziegler, Pawling, and DeWitt families.

 

 

Then we end up with a still different naming pattern – patronymic where the child’s last name is the father’s first name with an ending of “sen” or “datter”.

 

Then I have my German ancestors who like to add lots of names to the child.  They would repeat the same “first name” then add two to three more names before the Surname.  As an example, my immigrant was named Heinrich Johann Ludwig Kludt.  He went by the name Johann or John.  His wife was named Christina Maria Dorothea Ahrendt.  She was known as Dorothy or Dorothea or Dora.

They were also famous for renaming children when was passed away.