Vol. 55 No. 4 (2007)
Research Article

The “Malachi” Given Name Pattern in a Swedish Village, 1500–1800

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  • Cynthia L. Hallen
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/nam.2007.55.4.397

Published 2007-12-01

Copyright (c) 2007 Maney

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Abstract

An inventory of parish records contains the given names of some 2,000 males and nearly 2,000 females in the village of Ljustorp, Sweden over three centuries. Three-fourths of all males shared eight given names and three-fourths of all females shared another eight names. The duplication of personal names across generations comes from the practice of naming children after close relatives. The naming pattern had three characteristics: repetition of the same given names for different people; selection of a child's name from a specific set of close family relationships; and assignment of the relative's name to the namesake child according to birth order. Although the specific pattern may be labeled name repetition in some onomastic and genealogical discussions, a precise term for the naming practice is lacking. I suggest it be called the “Malachi” pattern, after the description of the prophet who foresaw the restoration of family ties in the latter days.

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