So far, in researching my ancestors from Scotland and Ulster, I've learned one thing - those folks were not extremely creative when it came to naming their children, especially the boys. Cases in point.......
Arbuckle: James, James, Thomas, James, Thomas, Thomas, Thomas & James. [Matthew, William, John]
Hogue: William, William, Zebulon, Zebulon, Joseph, William & Irwin. [George, Solomon, James, John, Alexander]
Graham: John, James, James, John & John. [Moses, Thomas, Elias, Joseph, Henry, Edward]
Montgomery: William & William. [John, James, Robert & Thomas.]
[Common siblings names are in parentheses.]
A few strangers pop up here and there. Elias game from a maternal line. I'm guessing Zebulon did as well, but no proof.
With large families, researching can be confusing with such creative naming. I have a James Arbuckle and his nephew James [about 6 years apart] being confused by several researchers for being the same person.
It's not until the most recent generations that the names get a bit less traditional, Irwin Hogue, for example.
The girls' names are quite similar: Elizabeth, Jane, Ann, Mary, Sarah, Margaret, Frances, Nancy, Susan/Susannah and a few others are found in nearly every generation. Add to that the common nicknames: Betsy, Sally, Fannie, Polly, etc
For those of you doing Scots & Scots-Irish research hoping to find a plethera of "traditional Scottish given names" such as Donald, Malcolm, Neil, Stuart, Lalan, Alistair, Aec, Ailsa, Bonnie. Catriona or Eilidh. Hope away!
I have one Malcom from c1635 and an Ailsa from 1820.
Expect James, John, William, Thomas, Sarah, Ann, Nancy and Mary to come crawling out of the Highland, Lowland, Borderland and Ulster woodwork!
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