Mysterious Middle Names

I suspect anyone who has been doing family history research for very long has come across one or two mysterious middle names in their family.  I certainly have. 

Once you've been researching for awhile, you find you can often assume that "Benjamin F." has a middle name of "Franklin."  Or that "George W." is "George Washington."  And "Martin L." is usually "Martin Luther."  I am sure there are others like that, but those seem to the very common ones.

And then there are the people with middle names that clearly are a family surname used as the middle name.  There are many in my research:  George Howland Healey's mother's maiden name was Howland.  Martha Braden Fenton's grandmother's maiden name was Elizabeth Braden.

But the really intriguing ones are those that I can't discover why that name was chosen.

One of those mysteries, I was able to solve.  William Mordant Braden and his uncle, William Morduit Jenners, were an interesting pair.     It took me awhile, but I discovered a family story stating that the Jenners were descended from the "Earl of Petersborough."  Now, I have not confirmed this story, but it did give me a clue about the "Mordant" and "Morduit" middle names.  The story by an unidentified grandchild of Abiel and Deborah (Young) Jenners states:

"In Chambers Encyclopedia Vol 10, page 202, see Earl of Petersborough of England.  My grandmother was a direct descendant of the Earl.  His daughter, Lady Ruth Mordanant, married her father's secretary, whose name was Jackson.  He was an educated gentleman, but not of a titled family, in consequence the marriage was opposed by her family.  She married him and they came to America and settled in Baltimore.  They had a daughter named Ruth, who married William Young of Baltimore; the latter couple moved to Bladenburg [sic], Maryland, where six children were born to them.  One daughter, Deborah, married Abiel Jenners and they were my grandparents...." 

So using this clue, I found that Deborah's parents were indeed William Young and Ruth Jackson.  Ruth Jackson's parents were Alexander Jackson and Deborah Mauduit.  And Deborah Mauduit's parents were William Mauduit and Ann (maiden name unknown).  William Mauduit is buried in Bladensburg's Evergreen Cemetery where his stone is the oldest still in existence.  He was high sheriff of Prince George's Co., Maryland from November 1746-March 1748. 

So, I suspect that William Mordant Braden and Willliam Morduit Jenners were named for William Mauduit, their ancestor who was an important man in early Prince George's Co., Maryland.  I have not yet  found the particular citation from Chambers Encylopedia,  though I have looked for it  off and on.  While there actually was an Earl of Peterborough, I have found nothing to indicate a link to the William Mauduit of Maryland.  Might be one, but I have not found it.

As I said, there are many such middle names that I have not yet uncovered the significance of, if there even is any significance.  A few examples:

Hector Wright Braden and his sister, Elizabeth Wright Braden, were the eldest and youngest children of Robert Braden and his wife, Elizabeth Stevens.   Family information states that Robert's mother was Sarah Wright.  So, using his mother's maiden name for Hector and Elizabeth's middle name isn't too far fetched.  I keep thinking, however, that I will come across a Hector and Elizabeth Wright connected to a Sarah Wright to break through that brick wall.  Hasn't happened.  Perhaps they just liked the name Hector, but it seems odd they'd use a non-family name for their eldest son.  They named their second son, Noble Stevens Braden, in obvious reference to his mother's maiden name.

Joseph Markwood Rheuble (or Ruble) and his grandson, David Markwood Rheuble, are another pair with mysterious middle names.  No one in the family seems to know where the Markwood name came from.  There were families with the surname Markwood in the Grant Co., West Virginia area where Joseph grew up, so I suspect there is some connection, but I have not found it. 

I know that not all names come from families.  I've heard of children being named for the person who delivered them or for a neighbor or close friend. 

Here are a few others that I haven't figured out:

Joseph ADDISON Braden

Alba ELLSWORTH Braden

William FENTON Braden

Anna McVICKER Jenners

Martin HOLBROOK Jenners

Martin PUTNAM Jenners

Lavinia DUVALL Jenners

Dora LaRUE Healey



There are many more.  Maybe at some point I'll come across a clue.