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Sunday, June 16, 2019

#52Ancestors: Namesake


Depending on your perspective there either aren't many namesakes in my family tree or they are everywhere! "Huh?!" you may be thinking to yourself. Let me explain. My maternal ancestors were from Luxembourg, a small country located in Western Europe. If you're not quite sure where Luxembourg is located it is nestled between Germany, France, and Belgium. And, it is a separate county, not part of Germany as many assume!

The Protestant Reformation, beginning in 1519, largely passed Luxembourg by and as a result, the county remains largely Catholic to this day. Catholics practice infant baptism and one of the elements of the Rite is selecting godparents whose duty it was to ensure the child's religious upbringing in the event something happened to his or her parents. 

As part of the sacrament of baptism, naming patterns through the 19th century were very predictable. Infants were named for their same-sex godparent. So you could say that all of my Catholic ancestors are the namesake of their godparents. Since an infant's parents are never godparents for their own child if the child had a unique name a likely assumption would be an aunt or uncle, or other family member or neighbor, with that name was their godparent. The parish baptismal records generally include the names of the godparents and it is always important to research what the relationship was to the parents and baby.

As illustrated below, the godmother of the infant Caroline is named Caroline. In fact, her godmother was also her maternal aunt.


Understanding the naming patterns of our ancestors can provide important clues to relationships. By the beginning of the 20th century, Luxembourg immigrants to the United States and subsequent generations began moved away from this tradition. But even then there are still threads of the tradition to follow. For example, my grandfather, Eugene Pierre, received his middle name from his godfather — and grandfather — John Pierre. The only problem with this practice is generation-upon-generation of instances of Anna Maria, Catherine, Nicholas, and John!

Copyright 2019 by Lisa A. Oberg, GeneaGator: Vignettes of Yesteryear. All Rights Reserved.