2011-06-29

odd bits from my family tree

looking through my family tree, i'm a little surprised at some things about the pre-1900s:

  • mens' given names don't seem to have evolved a whole lot over the last 500 years (e.g. "John"). womens' names seem more various.
  • 3/4 of males born since 1450 have been named "John Hall".
  • apparently, you were obligated to have at least a dozen or so babies. (yes, i already know, thank you.)
  • if you had a baby who died, you'd make another baby and give them the same name (usually "John Hall").
  • if your wife died, you were obligated to marry another woman within a few months, and make more babies named "John Hall".
  • ancestry.com seems to think that people born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s were born in the USA.
  • every male child seems to have been named the exact same name as either a parent, uncle, grandparent, or cousin. (usually "John Hall".)