What’s in a name?

How did the Irish (in the mid 1800’s) commonly name their children and why were infants often referred to as “baby girl” or “baby boy?”

Florence Burke in his Union Army uniform

When I first found the letters in the attic and read the name of my great, great grandfather, I wondered why his name was Florence. Isn’t that a woman’s name? Likewise, when I told people about the name for my novel, “Yours Faithfully, Florence Burke”, some responded, “who is she?”

One day I asked my father why his great grandfather had a female first name. He laughed and said that it was a common Irish tradition to name the first son after the mother’s first name. What? I howled. Why?  I asked if those boys were ridiculed or down right beaten up, but he said it was so common that Irish folks just took it as normal and expected. Florence was indeed the first male son in his family, so lucky him; he was honored by being given the same as his mother.
In reading my great, great grandfather’s Civil War letters I also learned about how many infants were addressed.  I noticed right away that my ancestor referred to his older sons by their proper names, Jerry and Michael, but he would always refer to his daughter as “baby girl.”  I began writing my novel and I decided to use Baby Girl in place of a name as well (also I could not find a record anywhere of her actual name). Soon, however, it began to feel cold (as well as monotonous) so I broke down and assigned her a factious name,Grace.

“Baby girl” Burke

While researching and inquiring to many historians about why my ancestor would refer to his infant daughter as baby girl (and so did his wife and sons) I discovered that the death rate among infants under age one was so high that many parents chose to use a generic name like “baby girl” until the child was out of infancy and more certain to survive. I suppose this detachment helped them to deal with the loss of their baby which was all too common during this time period. Disease, malnutrition and lack of proper medical care and medicine were often to blame in the high rates of infant fatality. My father also suggested that some Irish were superstitious, fearing that if they used the birthright name, the baby might die a premature death. They did not want to jeopardize their situation any further, given that the survival rate were already slim, so some chose to just use the impersonal, “baby girl” or “baby boy.”

Names obviously held great importance to the Irish in 1848, and even for Irish-Americans in 1864. Through researching my Irish ancestors I learned about tradition, culture, fear and superstition in naming their children.  I feel fortunate that today we have more freedom and confidence in placing a name to our child. Apple… Blue… North?