Not just posh. It was the norm in early America. Mother’s surname name becomes the middle name. Then, in the next generation, middle name moves into first name position. So you end up with people like Livingston Livingston. My middle name is Lansing, a Dutch NY surname. I could trace my father’s PA roots because his middle name was his mother’s surname and his first name was his grandmother’s surname, so the practice continued.
Good to see you mairdie. I was going to say it is very common in Morman families also probably because of their genealogy practices. I’m not one but I do know that many still name children this way.
Hey Thanks. It’s been a while u-2.
The Irish (at least in my family) flip\flopped First and Middle names,(according to my wife) though not everybody.
I couldn’t find a pattern of why or why not...yet. (My wife is the genealogist)
An example”...My Grandfather was Eugene James..signed everything Eugene J.
His birth & baptism & death records show James Eugene.(He is a twin and his sister’s names are flipped based on the 1900 census.)
(His oldest son is Eugene Daniel. and I haven’t seen the birth\baptism\death cert to see if these are flipped. My dad’s names weren’t flipped)
My G’father’s older brother was Joseph John. Signed everything that way. Known as Joe. His records show John Joseph
Their grandfather’s first name was James.
take care - FreeRegards