Another interesting clue to Francis Norwood's beliefs and practices might be found in onomastic evidence. David Hacket Fischer, in his book Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, points out that New England Puritans, Virginia Anglicans, and Delaware Valley Quakers followed different patterns in the naming of their children. It may be useful to summarize them here.

Massachusetts Child-naming Ways: Puritan Onomastics (Fischer, 93)

1. Biblical names were favored, generally appropriate to social rank.

2. Firstborn sons and daughters were most often given the names of their parents; younger children were named after their grandparents and other relatives (Fischer, 308).

3. Necronyms were used: if a child died, a later child would be given the same name.

4. Hortatory names, such as Flee Fornication, for example, were very common in Sussex, England, but not so common in New England.

Virginia Naming Ways: Anglican Onomastics (Fischer, 306)

1. Names came from Teutonic warriors, Frankish knights, and English kings.

2. Firstborn children were named for grandparents; second-born children were named for their parents: The firstborn son was named for his paternal grandfather and the second-born son for his father. This pattern was usually patrilineal, but sometimes depended on the relative rank of the maternal and paternal lines.

3. Surnames were often given as forenames to reinforce connections between families.

Delaware Child-naming Ways: Quaker Onomastics (Fischer, 502)

1. Nomination "anti-ceremony": parental selection; Friends certification; neighbors' witness; meeting registration.

2. Firstborn son: mother's father; second-born son: father's father; firstborn daughter: father's mother; second-born daughter: mother's mother or mother; third-born son: father; fourth-born son: mother's father, with some variation, reflecting onomastic equality between husband and wife with firstborn boys'names following the maternal and girls' the paternal ancestors.

3. Biblical names were popular, especially for girls (Anne/Anna/Hannah and Esther/Hester were popular), but not as much for boys as among the Puritans. The Quakers continued to favor traditional English and Teutonic names.

4. Grace names such as Remember, Restore, Freedom, etc. were also sometimes given.