Dunnathorne

[Janette clarke]

My husbands Grandfather had this as his middle name. No one appears to know why. There is a family story that he was named after an admiral -I can't find one. Can anyone help?

Thanks

 

[juliejtp]

Hi Janette,

I've googled the name but the search engine is asking if I mean Dunnithorne.
Perhaps the further you go back you may find an ancestor with that name.

Julie

 

[taalia81]

Hello,
I have a number of Scottish ancestors who all had unusual middle names, and it seems that there was a tradition of naming children after family members and close friends but including the whole name!

For example, my g-grandmother: Isabella Gerrard Meldrum Eden was named after a womand called Isabella Meldrum, nee Gerrard who had been her mother's neighbour when she was a child. I have a lot of people just like this so it's possible that your family used the same method!

Becky

 

[Horatia Nelson]

I have the surname of Dunthorne on my family tree. I wonder if that is what they meant?

My husband's ancestors quite often had a surname as their middle name. One was named Henry Richardson Norris another was called Grace Witham Norris. I think the surname came from a friend of the family or another family member's surname. It's often someone they wish to honour so they add it as a middle name for a newborn child.

Cheers, Horatia