What's In A Name?



Nametag StickerHave you ever given much thought to your name? Where did it come from? Were you named after someone?

In my case, my first name came from an employee that worked for my parents. Her name was Meredith, and my parents liked it, so that is what they named me. My middle name is the same as my father’s middle name. And, when I had my first child, I gave her that same middle name.

Last names can be interesting too. The name Ethington, for example, did not start out as Ethington at all. In fact, it came from the name Adderington. The Adderingtons were oat farmers that lived along the Adder river. The name just evolved and took shape over time.

When scrapbooking your family history, it might be interesting to scrapbook a layout all about names. Whether it be your first name, an interesting name of a relative, or scrapbooking a layout all about the last name in your family, it would be a great addition to any scrapbooking album.

Take, for example, a first name that was a family name. It seems there is a trend now to go back to the older names. Many times there are little kids running around with older names like Mabel, June, and Rose. My sister named her daughter, Hazel after our great-grandmother which we were very fortunate to know growing up because she lived to be 105 years old. An interesting way to scrapbook a name would be to have a photo of both the current Hazel, and the great-grandmother Hazel on the same page. Having a page where your child could see their namesake would be something they would treasure for a long time.

Another way to scrapbook a name page is to scrapbook a page all about the history of your last name. Like my example above, the name Ethington evolved over time. You could put a picture on the page of some of the first relatives you know of. Use alphabet stickers to spell out your last name. Fill up the page journaling all about the history, and how the name came to be what it is today.

Names are fascinating. They are full of meaning, and history. Most people may not even know what is behind their own name, and scrapbooking a page all about a special name would be perfect for your heritage album.

Meredith Ethington is the author of this blog. To learn more about Meredith, and her history with Scrapbooking and Genealogy, go here.

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