<HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.6058"></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" dir=ltr id=role_body bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 rightMargin=7 topMargin=7> <DIV dir=ltr> <DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <DIV>I don’t think that are really any hard and fast rules.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For example, my father is Michael Grant Hait. He did not legally change his name to “Sr.” when I was born, though he sometimes does go by this (usually if there is any chance of confusion with me). On the other hand, my birth certificate *does* say Michael Grant Hait, Jr., so this is my legal name, and would not change unless I chose to legally do so.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Go back a few generations, and my great-great-grandfather (born in 1863, if anyone was curious as to where the middle name came from) was named Myron Grant Hait. His son was known as Myron Grant Hait, Jr. The elder Myron died in 1900. When my grandfather was born in 1927, he was also called Myron Grant Hait, Jr.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Go back a few more generations, and there was a Henry Hait. He was the son of Aaron, son of David, but was known in his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut, as Henry Hait (or Hoyt) 3rd. There were two older Henry Hoyts in town, one only a few years (less than 10) older. When he moved away from Stamford and its proliferation of Hoyts, Henry never again used a generational suffix.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In other words, sometimes they are related, sometimes they are not, sometimes they use Sr., sometimes Jr., sometimes which one they use changes, sometimes it doesn’t.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In general, historically, “Sr.” and “Jr.” were not usually parts of <FONT face="Times New Roman">legal </FONT>names. This changed at some point—my guess is some time during the 20th century.<BR><BR>Michael Hait<BR>michael.hait@hotmail.com<BR>http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com</DIV> <DIV style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma"> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5"> <DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=JFonkert@aol.com href="mailto:JFonkert@aol.com">JFonkert@aol.com</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, March 08, 2011 12:23 PM</DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=kathwarr@gmail.com href="mailto:kathwarr@gmail.com">kathwarr@gmail.com</A> ; <A title=apgpubliclist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgpubliclist@apgen.org">apgpubliclist@apgen.org</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [APG Public List] Jr and Sr</DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none"><FONT id=role_document color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>My understanding is that Jr and Sr are not even necessarily son and father.  If there were two men of the same name in a locale, one might be known as Sr. and one as Jr. based on their ages.  They might be cousins or something else.  Do others agree?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 3/8/2011 11:21:11 A.M. Central Standard Time, kathwarr@gmail.com writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>I have a question regarding the abbreviations Jr. and Sr.  I always<BR>thought that if you had a Jr. then the person they were named after<BR>automatically becomes a Sr.  - for example - My father is James<BR>Michael Cogbill and my brother is James Michael Cogbill, Jr. - so<BR>doesn't that make my father a Sr.?  I was told no that it doesn't<BR>because on my father's birth certificate it doesn't say Sr.  Although<BR>in my thinking it wouldn't because you haven't had a kid yet to be<BR>named after you.<BR><BR>Can someone please explain the rules of Jr. and Sr. to me?<BR><BR>Thanks so much!<BR><BR>-- <BR>Kathleen Cogbill Warr<BR>www.olddeadpeople.com<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT lang=2 size=2 face=Arial ptsize="10" family="SANSSERIF">Jay Fonkert, CG<BR><A href="http://fourgenerationsgenealogy.blogspot.com/">http://fourgenerationsgenealogy.blogspot.com/</A><BR>Saint Paul, MN<BR><BR>Director, Association of Professional Genealogists<BR>(</FONT><FONT lang=2 color=#000000 size=1 face=Arial ptsize="8" family="SANSSERIF">professional profile at <A href="http://www.apgen.org)/">http://www.apgen.org)/</A></FONT><FONT lang=2 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial ptsize="10" family="SANSSERIF"><BR>Member, Genealogical Speakers Guild<BR></FONT><FONT lang=2 color=#000000 size=1 face=Arial ptsize="8" family="SANSSERIF">(professional profile at <A href="http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/)">http://www.genealogicalspeakersguild.org/)</A><U><BR></FONT><FONT lang=2 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial ptsize="10" family="SANSSERIF"></U>Member, International Society of Family History Writers and Editors <BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=2 color=#000000 size=1 face=Arial ptsize="8" family="SANSSERIF">CG (Certified Genealogist) is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by Board-certified associates after periodic competency evaluations.</FONT><FONT lang=2 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial ptsize="10" family="SANSSERIF"><BR></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>