Naming patterns can provide powerful clues, but they can also be frustratingly misleading. I have an Abraham Van Vleet family that lived in Somerset County, N.J., at the turn of the nineteenth century ...

Every baby name tells a story, but some tell the story of where we’re from. While Olivia and Liam have topped the national charts for six years in a row, state-by-state data paints a different picture ...

A similar pattern existed for naming the oldest daughters in a family. However it was not as strictly adhered to and frequently, amongst the wealthy at least, we see girl’s names influenced by fashion ...