Family Naming Customs After the Loss of a Child

Searching birth and infant baptismal registers requires careful observation. It was common to name a baby after an older sibling that had died. Researchers must avoid incorrectly assigning the incorrect date of birth to a child. Each child born to a couple must be linked to his own correct dates from birth to death.

If there are slight discrepancies between a date provided in adult records and the infant records one finds, take a second look. Might this be a case of two siblings with the same name?

Several infants in my research died an early death. Five of them were honored with namesakes. 

Jeremiah O’Riordan born 6 Apr 1873-died 25 Oct 1873; 

Jeremiah O’Riordan 4 Jul 1875-27 Jul 1875

These brothers were born at Massytown, Macroom in County Cork. They were the 7th and 8th of the ten children born in their family between 1862-1880. 

Hannah Mahony 16 Apr 1883-16 Apr 1883; 

Hannah Mahony 20 Jan 1885-1956

The second Hannah emigrated to New York City and eventually became an American citizen. The date on her American records fluctuated and the initial searches in the databases found her older sister which made for a few inconsistencies. 

Catherine Buckley 17 Oct 1889-26 Oct 1889; 

Catherine Buckley 29 Apr 1895-10 Nov 1896

The Buckley sisters were named after their paternal grandmother, Catherine Cahill. This family waited several years to re-use the name with the second Kate. The elder Catherine was the family’s first daughter and fourth child of ten total. Katie the younger was the fourth daughter and 8th child born between 1886-1903. 

Julia Daly 8 Dec 1899-12 Jul 1901; 

Julia Daly 18 Jul 1901-1981

This recent discovery shows that there is no rule for how long to wait before re-using a given name again. This family lost their 18 month-old and less than a week later named their newest daughter with the same name. The elder Julia was enumerated in the 1901 census and her sister was enumerated in the 1911 census.

Patricia Cassidy 21 Dec 1932-30 Dec 1932; 

Patricia Cassidy 24 Sep 1934-2000

There may be disagreement within the family with regard to this custom. When my aunt was born in 1934 Grandma wanted to name her Regina but my grandfather insisted that she too bear the moniker Patricia. Despite living through two Sundays, the elder Patricia was not baptized at her parish church. She was baptized in their railroad flat by her eldest brother before her death. She was buried in the family christening dress. Hers was the last death certificate issued by the NYC Department of Health in 1932. 

Naming customs do not follow a single rule. Here are examples of families that did not name their second child with a name they had already used.

John Cassidy 29 Jul 1879- 29 Jul 1879; 

Michael John Cassidy 28 Oct 1880-1949

Little John suffered from delicacy since birth and died after only 6 hours. His existence was known only because of his appearance in the databases at FamilySearch and later Ancestry. He was not baptized but had both a birth and a death registration in Newry. His brother was born the following year. He was named after their paternal grandfather and his late brother. This healthy child was baptized  and later immigrated to the United States within months of his birth. 

Anne Buckley 23 Jun 1930- 13 Jul 1930; 

Joan Buckley 13 Jan 1938-2014

Anne was named after a dear nanny that cared for her mother at the turn of the century. Anne lived only twenty days and never left the hospital. She was baptized there with a single sponsor, her father’s aunt. This family chose to name their second daughter a unique name.

Ellen O’Riordan 20 Oct 1900- 3 Aug 1901; 

Christina O’Riordan 9 Dec 1901-1988

Ellen died when their mother was 5 months pregnant with her sister. Their father was the older brother of the two Jeremiahs above. Christina was the mother of the Buckley sisters immediately above. Ellen had been named after her aunt, her father’s eldest sister. This aunt had been named after her grandmother. Perhaps since both the aunt and niece died in 1895 and 1901, the family followed another custom and abandoned a name that was linked with early death. In those circumstances, a name completely outside the norm would be selected.