Have you ever heard of family genealogy? Claire Tabarly Perrin, co-author of L’Officiel des Prénoms, published by First. explains to us how it can have a considerable impact when choosing a first name.
It is quite common to have a first name in homage to our ancestors. Wearing the first name of your grandmother, grandfather or great-grandparents, often as a middle name, is a way of continuing a certain family tradition. “But we should not hesitate to ask our parents or grandparents about the history of this first name within the family“, explains Claire Tabarly Perrin, co-author of the Officiel des Prénoms published by First.
Why is taking family genealogy into account essential?
“You have to find out if, in the family, there was a great-uncle who was crushed to death by a bus or to whom something bad happened.” warns the specialist. This does not prevent you from choosing the first name in question, but this choice will then be made wisely, it is just appropriate to “to know it and to know its history in order to choose it with full knowledge of the facts”, she explains to us. Indeed, if we learn a posteriori that this first name worn by our elders refers to a heavy past, this adds weight to this first name and the parents could then regret their choice years later.
“I met a woman who gave the first name that was passed down from generation to generation to little girls… Except that for one generation in two, there was one who died at a young age.”, relates Claire Tabarly Perrin. “She found it rather nice to relay this tradition and appreciated this feminine first name until she spoke with a family member who revealed to her that this first name, in the family genealogy, was worn by many little girls who died before age of three“.
So you might as well know this before giving your child a first name so as not to be surprised and become aware of it. However, we must still put things into perspective and say to ourselves that the child, fortunately, will not have the same tragic fate simply because he has the same first name.
Thanks to Claire Tabarly Perrin, co-author of the Officiel des Prénoms published by First.