52 Ancestors - NAMESAKE: Name Pairings

I understand why families like to honor a father, a grandfather, even a great-grandfather by bestowing the elder’s name upon the newborn son. What I don’t understand is why some names seem to follow some families but not others. Probably everyone has a full supply of men named James, William, and John in the family tree. I sure do. But what about Leonard? Or Stephen?

The name Leonard shows up ONLY in my Davis line. No Leonard Jollett. No Leonard Rucker. No Leonard Eppard. No Leonard Slade, Walsh or Morrison.

Stephen shows up only in Slade. No Stephen Jollett. No Stephen Davis. No Stephen Rucker. No Stephen Eppard.

And it’s not JUST MY family. “Leonard” was apparently a popular name for Davis boys born in the 1760s. A Boone family genealogy claims there was a Leonard Davis born in Pennsylvania. Another claims a Leonard Davis who was a veteran of the French and Indian War. Another tells of Leonard Davis who died in Kentucky in 1817.

There are a number of men named Leonard Davis who fought in the Civil War; some were Confederates while others hailed from Vermont. Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, California – they all have a Leonard Davis. There are Leonard Davises in England and in Canada. Obviously, they are not all named for MY Leonard Davis.

What is it about the name Leonard that goes with Davis? Is it a natural pairing like apple pie and ice cream?

And what about Stephen paired with Slade? In my research, there are basically 2 Slade camps: the New England Slades and the North Carolina Slades. Both were crawling with Stephens from the beginnings of our country. Still are!

The Carolina Slades likely are the ones who had a few stragglers that wandered on down to Georgia and finally Florida where my oldest confirmed Stephen Slade lived and died. He had a son named Stephen and a grandson named Stephen. “Honor thy father” – I get it.

But what about all those other Stephen Slades that seem to have no connection to mine? Can we all trace our lineage to THIS Stephen Slade who was buried in Somerset, England 1 April 1607?

from Somerset England
Church of England Births, Baptisms, Burials
1531-1812, Ancestry

I realize there is probably no logical explanation for this phenomenon, but it is thoughts like these that keep me up at night. 

Amy Johnson Crow continues to challenge genealogy bloggers and non-bloggers alike to think about our ancestors and share a story or photo about them. The challenge is “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.” 

Wendy

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