Explore The serious, sublime and The ridiculous facets of family history in this genealogical miscellany. This issue, Tom Wood discovers amazing tales of twins, certificates and descendants

Tom Wood

GENEALOGICAL MISCELLANY

Twins are always an interesting topic and I was delighted to hear from Raymond Blight, who wrote to me about a pair that were born, not just on different days, but in different years! Raymond told me about his wife’s grandfaTher, James Townsend, who was born on 1 January 1891 – but his older twin broTher Robert had arrived a few hours earlier, on 31 December 1890! The boys were The sixth and seventh children of Charles Townsend and his wife Susan East, who lived in Dover Road, Upper Norwood, London, and They were baptised togeTher on 5 April 1895 at All Saints Church in The parish. I wonder if They did celebrate Their birthdays on different days. Does anyone have similar stories in Their trees?

Unisex names

A recent names survey brought to my attention The number of parents who are embracing The idea of unisex names for Their children – and not just celebrities. According to The website online marketplace OnBuy.com, about 45 per cent of The 1,466 British parents polled would choose a genderneutral name for Their baby, while 27 per cent would choose a unisex name for Their children to follow trends. The top three most popular unisex baby names in England and Wales are Noah (number 1), Charlie (2) and James (3); all well-used names in many of our ancestral families, I suspect, but perhaps Noah and James we still associate more with boys. James was certainly a popular male name on my paternal side. Times do change, however, and it’s interesting to note that Ruby (at number 6) and Evelyn (7) are also popular unisex names today. Both were popular names for female ancestors on my moTher’s side.

The oTher popular unisex baby names that made The top 20 are: Max (4), Logan (5), Theo (8), Mason (9) and Finley (10), followed by Dylan, Riley, Teddy, Harper, Erin, Tory, Arlo, Luca, Harley and Reggie. How interesting. I would be delighted to hear if any of our readers have ancestors with unisex names, or who bore a name traditionally given to The opposite sex, which may have proved a surprise when you began researching Them! Or have any unisex first names passed down to The generations to your family today? I can’t wait for your emails and letters!