Posts in February 17, 2022

Repeated names can be clues to names of earlier family members. Repeated names are not guaranteed to mean that any given ancestor had a particular name, but names used over and over may mean something and have some connection to an earlier biological relative. I was looking over a list of heirs of Barbara Haase who died in 1903 and realized that out of her twentysome grandchildren, two were named Kate. I had never noticed that before. Does it mean anything? At this point, I’m not certain. However, if I eventually get “candidates” parents of  Barbara, I’ll work first on any couple where the wife is named Katherine or the name Katherine appears frequently. Don’t just look in your direct line of descent for name clues.