For centuries it was against English Common Law for commoners to have
middle names. This included the English colonies. Most of the people
with English origins did not ignore the law before the Revolution.

The German speakers in Colonial America largely ignored this Common Law and
continued to use their customary double & triple given names, with the one
closest to the surname being the call name (or the one on which the
nickname was built).

After the Revolution, 2 or more given names became common. The earliest of
these are often "unit names," such as the name of the maternal grandfather or
the name of a military, political, or religious leader. Examples: Thomas
JEFFERSON, Lorenzo DOW.

If a woman received a surname as a middle name, it should be looked at for
its "unit name" potential. For example, did Mildred Catherine Claiton
RUSSELL (b. 1847 Lunenburg Co VA) have a unit name, i.e. Catherine CLAITON?

If anyone has _English_ examples of middle names in Colonial Virginia,
I would be interested in hearing about it off list.

Kerren H. doesn't count. It's Kerrenhappuch in disguise, one of 3
daughters of Job in the Old Testament.

The Welsh had a habit of stringing multiple patronymics together (before
fixed surnames).  That is not the same as having middle names.

I suspect there were more middle names (albeit rare) in Colonial Virginia
than in Colonial New England, because of the colonists' different places of
origin in
the Old World, including within the British Isles.

--Ida Skarson McCormick, [log in to unmask], Seattle

At 09:04 PM 05/02/2001 -0400,  Kirk <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>When did the use of middle names become common, or even begin, in Colonial
>Virginia?  <snip>  Were middle names given to children in the early 18th
>century?

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