If you’re looking where a family “got a name,” go beyond biological relatives. That name could be for a relative by marriage.

An uncle of mine married a woman in 1874 who had a six year old son and raised him as his own. Never formerly adopted, the uncle left his entire estate to the son he raised. That uncle’s father died in 1912. In that same year the son apparently named his own child for his step-father’s father, giving his child the step-grandfather’s first and middle name.

Don’t assume that name has to be for a biological relative.

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  1. Children may be named for the country doctor who delivered them or they may be named for a prominent neighbor. No kinship involved.

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