The Importance of a NAME

Recently I was blessed with a new granddaughter. It didn't take long before many records were created in her very own name--a birth certificate being one of her most important.


If nothing happens to legally change her name, she will own it for the rest of her earthly life. When she dies in 90 years or so, she will leave behind hundreds of records proving that she lived. 


Some of the records she will acquire besides her birth certificate will be health, church, property, driving, marriage, and on and on. These are much the same records we try to find when looking for an ancestor who lived long ago. We rely on whatever organization required the records to handle and store them so that those who come afterward can glean.


I was excited to find my father on the 1940 census living in Aurora, Sevier, Utah. Of course, I didn't need the census to prove that he lived. I knew him personally. But that is not always the case. 

Last week my mother, siblings and I visited my father's grave. His headstone has chiseled on it his birth and death date. My mother is listed beside him with only her birth date for now. All of their children's names are chiseled on the back of the headstone.


I am very proud of my ancestors. I love the idea that my name is chiseled with the names of my parents and their names are chiseled with their parents. I guess that is why I enjoy family history so much.


One of the reasons I post this blog is to make sure the names of my ancestors are recorded in one more place and that place is connected to my name.