German customs: first names

There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the repetitive nature of first names in my German ancestry.

For example, I have ancestors named Johann and ancestors named Johannes. Both male. What’s the difference?

In the mid-19th century, just about everyone had the name Jacob or Philipp. The preponderance of Elisabethas, and Katherinas, and Margarethas is also striking. How did they tell one another apart?

Furthermore, if a baby died in infancy, why was the next one given the exact same name? I would not be inclined to name a child after one who had died. Call it superstition, or a painful reminder of unutterable grief, but in my 21st century reality, it seems a bad idea.

And why did I find Philipp Heinrich Handrich in the 1850 census under Henry Handrich. Why didn’t he go by his first name of Philipp?

Recently I came across a family genealogy write-up that referenced German first name “patterns.”

“The first son is named after the paternal grandfather.
The second son is named after the maternal grandfather.
The first daughter is named after the maternal grandmother.
The second daughter is named after the paternal grandmother.”

But that’s not all. Check out this article by Charles F. Kerchner, Jr., at 18th Century PA German Naming Customs. Apparently, until about the 1870’s, often every male in a family was named after the same saint (for example St. John, St. George, St. Philipp). Hence, it was generally their second first name by which they were differentiated. Kerchner also enlightens us on the difference between Johan and Johannes (Johan coming first refers to St. John. Johannes is the name John, and normally is the second first name.)

With enough information, this system could even offer clues to names of ancestors not yet uncovered.