Genealogy Fun - Middle Names

Randy Seaver is a genealogist and blogger.  He puts out the occasional blogging prompt and last Saturday night he posted one - to track though the middle names of one's ancestors for four generations and try to determine why those names were bestowed and then write a blog post of your own.

I'll admit, Randy's format from his blog post confused me a bit.  He used letters and by the time I got to the fourth generation I lost track of where I was and where to go next.  So I used the Ahnentafel numbering system where I am 1, my father is 2, (double my number) and my mother is 3 (father +1).  You can easily go back in the generations - for instance with my maternal grandparents I take my mom' number (3) and double it, so her father is 3 x 2 = 6 and add 1 to get her mother.  So in my chart below you can see I have my direct line ancestors numbered using the Ahnentafel system.  

You can see Randy's original post at: (http://www.geneamusings.com/2016/03/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-middle.html) 

Here is my stab at figuring out where the middle names in my family came from....

2)  Father:  Thomas Bradley Kircher (1921-2008): Middle name is mother’s maiden name
3)  Mother: Rosemary Brown (1922-1977): Birth certificate says “Rose Marie” but she went by Rosemary.  No family connection with this name
Son:  Richard George Kircher (1945-????): he is Rosemary’s son with her first husband, George Hartman, and his middle name is his father's given name.
Son:  David Thomas Kircher (1950-????):  Middle name is father’s given name
Daughter:  Victoria Anne Kircher (1953-????): no recent ancestor with this name
Son: Mark Damian Kircher (1955-1995): no recent ancestor with this name
1) Daughter: Mary Elizabeth Kircher (1960-????): middle name paternal aunt, Jane Elizabeth’s name
Daughter: Diane Elinor Kircher (1962-????): middle name is friend of mother (Elinor Porter Evans)
 
4)  Father:  Charles Arthur Kircher (1879-1952):  no recent ancestor with this name
5)  Mother:  Mary Agnes Bradley (1888-1968): first and middle names after her mother (mother went by Mary, daughter went by Agnes)
Daughter:  Mary Frances Kircher (1909-1996):  Middle name is paternal grandmother’s given name
Daughter: Bertha LouiseKircher (1912-1999): Middle name is variant of paternal aunt’s (Louisa) middle name
Son:  Charles Arthur Kircher (1915-1987):  full name is father’s full name
Daughter:  Barbara Elizabeth Kircher (1918-1994): middle name is middle name of maternal aunt
Daughter:  Kathryn Browning Kircher (1919-1998): Middle name is paternal aunt’s married surname
2) Son:  Thomas Bradley Kircher (1913-2004): Middle name is mother's maiden name
Son: John Lawrence Kircher (1926-2010): no recent ancestor with this name
Son: Philip James Kircher (1932-2012): middle name is maternal grandfather’s given name
 
6)  Father:  Ira Sankey Brown (1877-1959): given and middle name is name of Methodist singer and composer, Ira David Sankey
7)  Mother:  Mary Jane Hardy (1892-1975): unsure if there is a recent ancestor with this name
Son:  Warren Hardy Brown (1920-2001): middle name is mother’s surname
3) Daughter: Rosemary Brown (1922-1977): Birth certificate says “Rose Marie” but she went by Rosemary.  No family connection with this name
Daughter: Iris Virginia Brown (1924-1997): origin of middle name unknown.  May be from the state of Virginia, birthplace of maternal grandfather
 
8)  Father:  Charles Conrad Kircher (1852-1929): middle name is paternal grandfather’s 2nd name
9)  Mother:  Frances Abelone Springer (1857-1930): no recent ancestor with this name
4) Son:  Charles Arthur Kircher (1879-1952): no recent ancestor with this name
Son:  Irving Henry Kircher (1885-1951): middle name is given name of maternal step-father
Daughter:  Helen Louisa Kircher (1888-1970): Middle name is maternal grandmother's given name
Daughter: Stella Mae Kircher (1889-1958): no recent ancestor with this name
 
10)  Father:  Patrick Thomas Bradley (1847-1938): no recent ancestor with this name
11)  Mother:  Mary Agnes Ahern (1859-1937): no recent ancestor with this name
Daughter:  Jane Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bradley (1882-1968): middle name is “call” name of paternal grandmother
Son:  John Francis “Frank” Bradley (1884-1959): middle name is given name of paternal uncle
Son:  James Ahern Bradley (1886-1963): middle name is mother’s surname
5) Daughter:  Mary Agnes ”Agnes” Bradley (1888-1968): first and middle names after her mother (mother went by Mary, daughter went by Agnes)
Son:  Hilary Patrick Bradley (1889-1920): Middle name is father’s given name
Daughter:  Anna Margaret Bradley (1896-1897): no recent ancestor with this name
Daughter:  Miriam Marcella “Brownie” Bradley (1899-1995): no recent ancestor with this name
Son:  Thomas Graham “Graham” Bradley (1902-1956):  Middle name is maternal grandmother’s surname
 
12)  Father:  James Nelson Brown (1836-1926): no recent ancestor with this name
13) Mother:  Isabella Mansperger (1840-1918): no known middle name
Son:  John B Brown (1858-1947): unsure what middle initial stands for
Daughter:  Emma C Brown Carringer (1860-1910): unsure what middle initial stands for
Son : Sevillin Brown (1862-1862): no known middle name
Son: William Boyd Brown (1864-1847):
Daughter: Anna B “Mary” Brown (1866-1911): Mary is after maternal grandmother’s given name
Son: Edward Leroy Brown (1868-1937) no recent ancestor with this name
Daughter: Frances C Brown (1869-1950): unsure what middle initial stands for
Son: Asberry Wesley Brown (1873-1956): no recent ancestor with this name
Son: George W. Brown (1875-1952): unsure what middle initial stands for
6) Son: Ira Sankey Brown (1877-1959): given and middle name is name of Methodist singer and composer, Ira David Sankey
Daughter Elizabeth J Brown (1878-bef 1894): unsure what middle initial stands for
Son: Elmer E Brown (1979-????): unsure what middle initial stands for
Son: Pearley O. Brown (1884-1958): unsure what middle initial stands for
 
 
14)  Father:  Jeremiah Hardy (1852-1903): no known middle name
15) Mother:  Mary Jane Fields (1854-1930): no recent ancestor with this name
Daughter:  Ida Josephine Hardy (1888-1978):  no recent ancestor with this name
Daughter: Mary A Hardy (1889-1890): unsure what middle initial stands for
7) Daughter: Mary Jane Hardy (1892-1975): no recent ancestor with this name
Daughter: Alice Irene Hardy (1901-1976): no recent ancestor with this name
 
So we have in these names:
 
Mother/Father given name – 4
Mother/father middle name – 3
Grandparent given name – 4
Aunt/uncle given name - 4
Family Surname – 5
Friend or famous person – 2
No middle name or only initials – 13
No recent relative in the family - 18
 
 
So out of  54 persons in these four generations, only 20 of them had a middle name from a family member.  13 had no middle name or only initials for middle names (middle name unknown).  18 had unique middle names not in recent family members and 2 had middle names from friends or celebrities.  Note, if you add this up I'm one short.  Not sure why I'm short, but as a Certified Public Accountant, I'm going to claim it's immaterial.

One more thing - this sort of made me laugh.  With today's social media, we seem to see a fair number of children named after celebrities, but at least in my family that's not a 21st century phenomenon.  My grandfather, Ira Sankey Brown, was named after a 19th celebrity, the Sweet Singer of Methodism, Ira David Sankey.  Grandpa was pretty far down the pack in his family of 13 children, so perhaps Nelson and Isabella had run out of family names by the time my grandpa arrived.  One of my back-burner genealogy projects is to see if I can find a timeline for Ira David Sankey's travels and see if he might have been singing in a revival tent in Noble County, Ohio around the time of Grandpa Brown's birth.