In 19th century was it normal for parents to name two of their children the same names?

Question

looking through census two people had 7 children, years later when most moved out they had another two children between 1 - 7 with the same names as there children, they are listed as daughters,?

Answer 1

Yes it was I had two uncles (siblings) they both had identical names Harold Edward, the rest of the family called one of them Harry and the other was Harold. My gran had 13 children, the ten boys all had the same middle name Edward and the three girls were all given May as a middle name.

Answer 2

If one died which was very very common, then they often named a subsequent child the same name as the child that died.

Answer 3

Yes, I am sure it was common people back then weren't creative as they are now, but they also did it took keep the family traditions I am sure. Something we have lost with the newest generations and learning about our heritage.

Answer 4

Yes in my family tree, during the19th century, I have seen instances where brothers  or sisters shared the same first name.  Often they were differentiated by middle names.  William, Jr. and William Thomas might be called William (or Will) and Tom, and one of two Marys might be called Polly, for example.

Many frontier families among the Scots, Scots-Irish, Irish, and Dutch followed fairly strict naming schemes that called the first son after the father's father, the second son after the mother's father, and the third son after the father, the first daughter after the father's mother, the second daughter after the mother's mother, and the third daughter after the mother.

Consequently, it wasn't until after a family had had about six children that they were free to be inventive, which usually meant they named a son after Andrew Jackson or George Washington, although I've seen younger sons named after Homer, Wesley, Calvin, and Luther.  Obviously, this naming pattern restricted the use of given names to a fairly small group of biblical and traditional names, resultinng in a lot of Johns and Marys.