Namesake - The Jims

 When Otto Edward Weise was born in 1886 his Grandfather, Edward Gottlob Weise, came to see him. Grandpa took one look at the baby and declared, "Otto iss no good name for baby! Ve call him Chim." And thus began the line of Jims (James)  that extends to my Grandson. But wait, maybe that started with my hubby's maternal Great-grandfather born in 1838, and Grandfather, who were both named James Leckie. Of course my husband was named James!

And then there is my side. My father, James Gardner McDearmid, was named after his Grandfather, James Gardner, born in 1839. I avoided marrying any Tom, Dick or Harry and found myself a Jim. We married in 1959. Our first baby was a girl so luckily we didn't name her Jamie. But of course we had to honor the ancestors so our son is James Gardner Weise. Not wanting to break with tradition he named his son James Douglas, after two Grandfathers.

If old Edward Gottlob were living he would probably say, "Vas dis? Dere iss too miny Chim's in dis famly!"

That's why when Grandson Zachary became a father he wanted to honor his Grandpa Jim but he thought "too many Jims!" So Zach and Brooke's baby boy is Theodore James. Interestingly, they named his big sister Ezra Mae. Turns out, to their surprise, Ezra's fifth Great-Grandpa, born in 1779, was named Ezra and her third Great-Grandma was Iva Mae. 

The final namesake story is a sweet one. Grandson Bryan and wife Erica welcomed their daughter 3 months early on New Year's Day, 2020. This tiny baby girl is now a feisty one-year old named Nellie-Anne Juliet after three Great-Grandmas. 

When a new baby is born in our family there's no need to go to a name-the-baby book to find a name! Just look at the family tree!



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