Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Name That Runs in Your Family

 From Randy (my cousin) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  We all have many names (given, middle surname, and nickname) in our ancestry, whether we know them all or not.

2)  Do you have "A Name That Runs in Your Family??"  Is there a first name - or nickname - that keeps repeating generation after generation in your tree? Share the name, the pattern, and your best guess as to why it stuck.

3) Please share!

Here's mine:

The name that was handed down and through the Tapley family for several generations was "George Washington." 

I theorize that it started out as naming a son after the first president of our new country.  However, I think as time went by, it just turned into naming children after brothers, fathers, uncles, etc.

- The first instance is when my 3rd great-grandmother, Sarah Tapley (1775-bet. 1850-1860) named one of her twins, George Washington Tapley (1814-aft. 1880). He was married to Elizabeth Hicks (1824-aft. 1880). 

- His son, James Madison 'Jim' Tapley (1847-1912), named after George Washington's twin brother, along with his wife,  Elizabeth Rebecca 'Becky' Page Tapley (1844-1924) named one of their sons, George Washington Sentell Tapley (1876-1944). 

- James M. 'Jim' Tapley had another son James L. 'Jim' Tapley (1868-1941) who was married to Maggie Vicey Powell (1878-1959) and they had a son, Gordon Wesley Tapley (1894-1959) and he and his wife, Minnie Lee Garrett (1904-1995) named a son George Washington Tapley (1937-2016). 

- The other twin, James Marion (or Madison) Tapley Sr (1814-1884) and his wife, Martha Norris (1824-1901) named one of their sons after his brother, thus another George Washington Tapley (1858-1923).

- Another child of James M and Martha, Susan Isabella 'Babe' Tapley Norris (1852-1928) and her husband, Dr. Swain Madison Norris (1850-1918) had a son, Newton Dean Norris (1878-1947), who, along with his wife, Charlsie Claxton (1881-1963) named a son George Washington Norris (1911-1991).

- Sarah Tapley's brother, James L. Tapley (1780-1855) and his wife, Mary Benson (1791-1860), had a daughter named Julia Ann Tapley (1815-1891) who, along with her husband, James Thomas Pullen (1814-1891) named a son George Washington Pullen (1857-1924). 

- Another child of James L. Tapley, Thomas A. Tapley (1826-1892), along with his wife, Pherreba Ann Jane Rountree (1829-1905) named a son George Washington Tapley (1860-1939).

- My 1st cousin, 5x removed, Jordan Tapley (1801-1877) (who shared grandparents, Joel Tapley [abt 1720-1790/91] and Mary Avent Tapley [1735-1790]with Sarah) and his wife, Rebecca Hinsey Littleton Tapley (1815-1847) named a son George Washington Tapley (1836-1864).  

- George Washington Tapley (Sr) (1836-1864) and his wife, Sarah Ann Dye (1841-1885) named their son  George Washington Tapley (Jr) (1864-1912) also.  

- George Washington (Sr) had a brother named Thomas Pinkney 'Tom' Tapley (1843-1940), who, along with his wife, Mary Palestine 'Mit' Couch (1855-1929) named a son George Washington Tapley (1871-1950).

I am sure that is all very confusing, but I calculate that there were ten (10) George Washingtons in the Tapley family.  I have many more who married into other family lines.

This naming pattern covered 123 years - from 1814 when the twins were born - to 1937 when the last George Washington Tapley that I am aware of in the Tapley family was born.  The practice seems to have died out after that.