Do you know the names of your great grandparents

[GreenCaterpillarOnALeaf]

I saw something on X the other day asking this and it made me wonder.

I can’t tell you their government names, but I know the names my parents refer to them by (skinny grandad, grandad with the hat, farmer grandad, mean Nana who used to tell my dad off when he was a little shit, nice Nana who enabled him being a little shit, and Welsh grandma). I know a decent bit about each of them, including the fact that farmer grandad looked spookily like Morrisey when he was younger (I’ve seen a photo, he really did). I don’t know about one set of my mums grandparents, but I know a decent bit about the rest.

It just made me think about if anyone will remember me or if I’ll be referred to as “Nana (insert description)” hopefully not mean Nana, I think she got a raw deal with that. Imagine my dad was a proper little terror back in the day, but he claims it was unfair persecution.

Yes I’m glad I spoke to my grandparents a lot when they were alive. They looked after me a lot as a kid and I used to roll my grandads ciggies while he would tell me about growing up with no electricity and showed me black and white photos. He also told me the world was in black and white then and I believed it till I was about 6.

I even know their parents’ names - but I find that stuff interesting. I know my other half’s too- I asked his parents . Recorded all in Ancestry. Matched with distant cousins who could tell me more.

No, this has just made me realise that aside from DDads GF, I have no idea - and that's only because he was Paul the 3rd and my GD and Uncle are the 4th and 5th.

That's very strange to realise that!

Only one was alive when I was born and they died when I was a toddler, but I know their name.

Additionally I know the very unusual name of my grandfather's father and am pretty sure I know the name of my grandmother's name.

My kids can name the two great grandparents who were alive when they were born/are still alive.

anyone else who is good with 'Ancestry' site - can you tell me how I can save (ideally print off) my family tree please?

Ive not done this but you can download your tree as a GEDCOM file. You could then import it into a genealogy software program (probably paid for but one-off so ultimately cheaper than Ancestry membership).

I have a copy of my family tree on both sides going back to mid Victorian times with some lines a little earlier, my brother researched it but off the top of my head no, the two that I remember were Gran (my mum’s maternal grandmother l, died when I was 6) and Grandma (my paternal grandmother’s mother who outlived most of her many children dying 2 days after the queen mother and the same age (they were born 2 weeks apart and only 5 miles apart but lived dramatically different lives obviously!) their actual names are not in my recallable memory (it’s full of crap like shopping lists and work stuff I swear)

I know the names of all my Scottish great-grandparents, but not the Eastern European side of the family. I know the name of one of the great-grannies because I've seen her grave. Her husband is buried elsewhere because he was killed in battle in WW1. My other great-grandparents are buried in another village.

A relative on the paternal side of the family produced a family genealogy pamphlet. He only mentions those born with the family name and when he searched the records, for the most part the women only get a mention as wives.

My great-great-great grandad was widowed and re-married. His second wife is only listed in the pamphlet as "The widow [first husband's surname".

Oh… I don’t think I do… that’s awful isn’t it?? I can tell you loads about them, and their nicknames / what various family members called them etc but I don’t think I’d know for sure what their actual names were. Bet my great grandad was called John though 😂

This.

I'm so fortunate. My mum's great grandfather born in 1879 was a professional photographer. And his father in law was a keen photographer too. So they kept a whole load of photos which my mum has and has made efforts to make sure I know who they are. There's one particular album that's incredible which is why both me and my mum are both into family history.

I've scanned and labelled and printed out books of the original photos to keep them in order. Don't just keep your modern photos on a drive somewhere. PRINT SOME. People do not look at photos on computers. They will look at albums.

On my dad's side his great great grandmother was a photographer in the 1860s. Theres a couple of photos which we still have but they are unlabeled. We know they are of family but not who. My grandfather however made a point of labelling what he had before he died.

As a result we have photos of family members who were born as far back as 1820 who we can not only name but know what they look like. They aren't just names lost in time.

My mum has a step grandmother who left her and her brother's everything as they were next if kin. There's a whole photo album of pictures who we don't know anything about - I only found out about this album a couple of weeks ago as it came up in conversation. I'd like to explore more about her family if I can.

It's a window into a world.

DH on the other hand hasnt even got pictures of himself as a child because he's parents decided to chuck them (without asking). They are odd to say the least.

My last great grandparent died when I was 23 so yes I know all of their names

I don’t think it’s awful, I don’t mind if I’m remembered by a nick name and couple of fun stories.

Yes, I know who all my ancestors are, including full names, back to around 1800, and much further back in some cases.

I also know where they all lived, what they did for a living and lots of intriguing stories about them.

I can on my Mum's side - my Grandma often talked about them, and the men on that side were all given the same name.
On my Dad's side I can tell you the name of my great Grandma as I was given her name as my middle name, but that's it.

I know the name of my maternal great grandmother only. Jane Bridge. She lived in a 2 room house, had ten kids and a husband who drank and she took in washing from the big house. She'd been in service at the big house prior to that

My great grandmother on one side and great grandfather's parents were alive still till around 12/13 & iv traced futher back on ancestry

Family bible goes back to 1500's but off the top of my head I know the first name of my great grandparents on the paternal side but only the surname on maternal. We have photos and articles when they did 'important' things in various albums but it does feel quite detached. Both sets died before I was 3.

Some them, yes. On my mums side- I don’t know her maternal grandparents names at all and never knew them. Mums paternal Gran was Helen and was her favourite person in the world. I don’t remember her grandpas name. Both died when I was 2 or 3.

On my dads side- didn’t know any of them them, all passed before I was born. My dad’s two grans were Sophia and May (I think?). I think the grandpas were Charles and Thomas but I’m not 100% sure.

Yes, I know the names of my Great Grandparents on both sides. I only have vague memories of my Great Grandparents on my Mum's side, I think they both died when I was around 6.

I know the names of most of them, and details such as where they lived and what they did for a living. I can go back to the 1500s on some lines and a little further on one in particular.

The ones I don't know from written evidence or reports in family genealogy can be pieced together by reference to traditional Irish naming patterns (and I've done that). They all lived in the same area for hundreds of years.

None of my great grandparents were alive by the time I was born.

Nrtft, but yes - Family Search, run by the Mormons is free and is one of the best family databases in the world. If you set up your own family tree, you can upload photos. Sometimes you get lucky, and find someone else has already done a branch of your family already - but details of living relatives are private to your tree.

Find My Past is a subscription UK website, and is good. Some people use Ancestry, another subscription website.

On my mother's side, yes. She always kept them alive by talking about them so I feel I have a sense of who they were. I can see from photos they look just like some relatives too.

But my dad's side no, he never met any of this. I've seen one photo of my great grandmother and grandfather but never the other side. I feel sad about that as I apparently resemble the great grandmother strongly (according to my grandad)

I was born in 1950 so my lovely nans parents were still alive, I remember staying there, the stairs up through the sitting room, very steep,a model of the Eiffel tower sitting on the bedroom fireplace, the garden. I can only remember their last name though. What is a government name?

Yes...but my family all had children at aged twenty (i've bucked the trend!) When I was born my grandparents on both sides were 40 years old and great grandparents were 60 years old on both sides. Luckily for me lovely great grandma got to come to my wedding and was around long enough to become a great great grandma ❤️

Yes

No, only surnames as I know both grandmothers' birth surnames. My mum has done a lot of family history stuff so I could easily find out but TBH I'm not that interested.