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Subject: [NF-ROOTS] Re: NFLD-ROOTS-D Digest V01 #536 (perpetuating maiden names)
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 09:33:46 EDT
Hello, all listers.
One way to memorialize a mother's prenuptial surname is to pass along that
name to a child as a given first or middle name. Example: My great
grandmother was Elizabeth WELLS, who married Robert Hill HULL. They named
one of their children William Wells HULL (my grandfather). Another example:
My mother was Tryphena HALE (she had no middle name), who married John
Stanley HULL. They named one of their children Cecil Hale HULL (me--aka
"Jack").
I have a granddaughter whose first name is Haley, a feminine form of my
mother's maiden name.
It is a common practice in the United States for a new bride to drop one or
more of her given names and to adopt her father's surname as a given name.
Example: My wife, whose full name at birth was Evelyn Alice MACAULAY, has,
since marriage, called herself Alice Macaulay HULL.
In Spain, it is standard -- perhaps legally required -- practice to form each
child's surname by combining the father's and mother's family names, with the
conjunctive "y" separating the two names. Example: Roberto Pedro VASQUES y
VERDURA.. The "y" means "and" in English. Following the Spanish custom, my
parents could have named me "Cecil Middle HULL y HALE."
It appears to be a growing practice to hyphenate the groom's and bride's
surname to form a married couple's surname. Example: Mr. and Mrs.
Smith-Jones.
Following any of these examples as a standard practice would sure help us
amateur genealogists track down our maternal ancestors. I know that at least
two of my many long-lost HALE family cousins contacted me after I included my
middle name in a NFLD-ROOTS posting.
I have enjoyed the comments on this subject as posted on this site. Keep 'em
coming.
Cecil Hale "Jack" HULL, Annapolis, Maryland
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