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Camryn Love
Lynn Raymond
UWRT 1104-017
October 10, 2019
Naming Names

Everybody gets their name for a certain reason whether it is due to tradition, religious

practices, because it was a name somebody liked which are just a few among other reasons. In

many cultures, new parents name their children after their elders in respect. According to Angus

Baxter in In Search of Your British and Irish Roots, In England between 1700-1875 many of the

family members would end up having the same name because of how they named their children.

“The first son was named after the father's father, the second son was named after the mother's

father, the third son was named after the father, the fourth son was named after the father's eldest

brother, the first daughter after the mother's mother, the second daughter after the father's

mother, the third daughter after the mother, and the fourth daughter after the mother's eldest

sister” (Baxter, 1982).

Eventually, naming your child after yourself, your father and your grandfather gets a bit

confusing and you have to switch up the name. In Korean families when they name their

children, the family last name goes first and then the child's name which at times is a “two part

name”. For example, Lee Yeon Suk. “Lee” is the last name and “Yeon Suk” is a two part name

which can not be shortened when being said so you must call this person Yeon Suk and not just

Yeon. (Haynes, 2015) In Somalian culture, the child has three names; their own personal name,

their father’s personal name which is then followed by their paternal grandfather’s personal

name. This naming practice reminds me of a Youtuber from Ethiopia named Liya Hizkias while

her fathers name was Hizkias Woldegabriel.

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I was named by my mother simply because she liked the name Camryn. My name is

significant to my family because I am the first person in our family to be named Camryn in fact,

we don’t even have a Cameron or Camron in our family who is older than me. The name is

Camryn is a Scottish surname which is derived from the Galelic nickname, “ cam srón” which

means “Crooked nose”. My middle name “Elise” is from the Hebrew name “Elisheba” which

means “oath of God” or “God is satisfaction”. My mom gave me that name because it was the

name of the actress on The Hughleys show, Elise Neale. She said that when she found out that I

was a girl that name resonated with her.

While I was looking for my relatives on Ancestry I found that there are only ten people

(five pairs) that have the same name. I can’t figure out why we have five Seniors and five Juniors

because as far as I know in my family we don’t follow any certain naming practice. I have a fe

cousins that were named after their Aunts so I figure that they got their names simply because

their parents wanted to respect their elders or themselves in cases where their children were

named after them. I’m hoping that I will be able to do enough research throughout the rest of the

Genealogy Project to see if my ancestors actually did follow a certain naming practice that died

after going through a few generations.

Works Cited
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1. Baxter, Angus. In Search of Your British and Irish Roots. Macmillan Of Canada, 1982.

2. “Camryn Name Meaning & Origin.” Baby Name Wizard,

www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/camryn.

3. “Elise.” SheKnows, 22 Aug. 2018, www.sheknows.com/baby-names/name/elise/.

4. Haynes, Judie. “7 Naming Customs From Around the World.” TESOL Blog, 30 July 2015,

blog.tesol.org/7-naming-customs-from-around-the-world/.