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My family tree on my maternal grandmother's side shows a habit of William naming his eldest son Robert, who named his eldest son William ... then there was a hiatus. Eldest son John, second son Edward, third son Robert. I was very puzzled, until I checked further. There had indeed been a first son named Robert, but he'd died as a preschooler. John and I think Edward were already present. Then came a daughter, and then the final son, who was Robert in accordance with the family tradition. His son was William, but left no children.

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We gave our children three names each. Our first daughter had my mother's name - Beatrice - as her first mn, and Mary as her second, though her other grandmother was actually Bertha Maria. We thought that Mary was close enough and worked better. She died when she was four, and we wanted another child. Our son said that if it was a boy, he'd move in with his friends round the corner, and if it was a girl, she'd have to have one of her sister's names. So she has Beatrice as her first name and, like the grandmother she never knew, she is known as Bea.