Quick - name your grandparents!

[lupaglupa]

Did you get all four? If so, you're doing better than 53 percent of the Americans in a recent poll who could not name all four grandparents when asked. Want to increase the challenge? Name all 8 great-grandparents. If you can do that, you're in a very small group. Only four percent of those surveyed knew the names of all eight of their great-grandparents. I'm pretty sure I could do all 16 of my great-great-grandparents without checking on a family tree, but I'm guessing with the numbers I mentioned above that less than half a percent of other Americans could do the same.

Family tree stumped: Most Americans can’t name all 4 of their grandparents!

Familiar with your family tree? There’s a good chance you’re not.

www.news10.com

 

[RobertP]

Did you get all four? If so, you're doing better than 53 percent of the Americans in a recent poll who could not name all four grandparents when asked. Want to increase the challenge? Name all 8 great-grandparents. If you can do that, you're in a very small group. Only four percent of those surveyed knew the names of all eight of their great-grandparents. I'm pretty sure I could do all 16 of my great-great-grandparents without checking on a family tree, but I'm guessing with the numbers I mentioned above that less than half a percent of other Americans could do the same.

Family tree stumped: Most Americans can’t name all 4 of their grandparents!

Familiar with your family tree? There’s a good chance you’re not.

www.news10.com

That's hard to believe (4-grandparents) but with the decline of the traditional nuclear family I can see how we've gotten here.

 

[lupaglupa]

I wish they had given a bit more info about what the standard was for accuracy. For instance - did you have to know your grandmother's maiden name? That would probably knock a lot of people out.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Great question !

I can cite the full names (including maiden surnames) of all four of my Grand parents.

I'm about 85 percent with the Great Grands (on all sides) full names .

By the Great-Great Grand level, that drops to well below 35 percent and I have to break out the genealogical charts.

 

[lupaglupa]

At least you have charts. I wonder what these folks do when their kids come home asking for help with the ubiquitous genealogy project.

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

Did you get all four? If so, you're doing better than 53 percent of the Americans in a recent poll who could not name all four grandparents when asked. Want to increase the challenge? Name all 8 great-grandparents. If you can do that, you're in a very small group. Only four percent of those surveyed knew the names of all eight of their great-grandparents. I'm pretty sure I could do all 16 of my great-great-grandparents without checking on a family tree, but I'm guessing with the numbers I mentioned above that less than half a percent of other Americans could do the same.

Family tree stumped: Most Americans can’t name all 4 of their grandparents!

Familiar with your family tree? There’s a good chance you’re not.

www.news10.com

I can name all 16 of my gg grandparents, but I'm weird that way.

 

[donna]

I can do grandparents, great grandparents and great great grandparents. Then I need to check my tree and charts I have. Of course I have been researching since about 2007. The ones I don't know are brick walls but I am working on them.

Actually 2 of my grandchildren did need some information on their family tree for class. Also had a cousin whose grandchildren needed the information. I was able to help them. Always glad to share our family with my relatives.

 

[lupaglupa]

My son came home and I was all ready to give him years of info. Then they only wanted his parents and grandparents. So disappointing!

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I wonder what these folks do when their kids come home asking for help with the ubiquitous genealogy project.

My first thought is many parents couldn't begin to answer the questions.

At least you have charts.

Yeah. I'm very fortunate in that area.

Both my Maternal and Paternal Grandmothers understood I was the only one of their Grandkids interested in such.
Plus they knew details of their own family histories very well. Both put them on paper for me when I was about twelve years old.
One drew a "family Tree" chart, the other wrote a four page letter with a synopsis of her family history.

I was also very lucky to have a cousin that became a professional in the genealogical field, and spent over twenty years of research to "connect the dots" between all branches into my paternal family genealogy.

 

[John Winn]

I have the names (including maiden names) back to the great great grandparents on both sides although, being bad with names, I admit I'd have to look at my notes to actually recite all the names. All my grandparents were dead before I came along and my parents very rarely spoke of their childhoods or parents so it was after they were dead that I began to try to find out our history. When I started I didn't have a clue. The internet, money, and time allowed me to discover way more than I'm sure my parents knew (including finding photos - my mother had none and my father only had maybe four). Turns out some of our folk were pretty interesting if you go back a ways.

I have friends who don't know who some of their grandparents were and they don't care. They also don't really care about history in general. I don't understand that view but it is common.

Nobody in my social circles can relate to my interest in cemetery preservation or research of the pioneers and veterans interred. I'm considered to be "peculiar" in that way. I have my friends in the history/genealogy/preservation circles but we don't generally socialize so I live in multiple universes. Many in my history circles have no interest in things I share with my social friends (e.g. American roots music). Life is complicated sometimes.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Nobody in my social circles can relate to my interest in cemetery preservation or research of the pioneers and veterans interred. I'm considered to be "peculiar" in that way. I have my friends in the history/genealogy/preservation circles but we don't generally socialize so I live in multiple universes. Many in my history circles have no interest in things I share with my social friends (e.g. American roots music). Life is complicated sometimes.

Same here. All my friends and family find it "kinda creepy" that I like to visit old cemeteries and look for relatives' graves or just old graves with a history. I like other people's stories no matter where I get the information.

 

[John Winn]

Same here. All my friends and family find it "kinda creepy" that I like to visit old cemeteries and look for relatives' graves or just old graves with a history. I like other people's stories no matter where I get the information.

We are probably a cult.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Do they still let high school students read Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters? I don't see how anyone could read that and not be interested in visiting cemeteries.

And if not for my efforts to reconcile what I was told with what the census records, etc. revealed, how else would I have found out my straight-laced, God fearing, bible quoting grandmother eloped with my grandfather when she was 17 and he 21? They kept their marriage secret for a year (that must have been exciting). Later in life she also confessed to riding a mule around the county when she was 15 and handing out leaflets in support of giving women the right to vote. She said everyone thought she was crazy to promote such a thing.

 

[Mrs. V]

Rubye Scott Webster, Harold Stueck. Anna Vascura, Anthony Avellano. Anna and Anthony eloped, and he bought her flowers from a street vendor so she would have a wedding bouquet at the JP. Catholic and Russian Orthodox..kinda forbidden in that day an age. He bought her Gardinias..

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

We are probably a cult.

I'm happy to be a member!

 

[lupaglupa]

I challenged my older brother at dinner tonight and he failed at the grandparents level, though only because I insisted he know middle names. As passionate as I am about our family history he has little interest. I just hope my son develops an interest as he gets older.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I just hope my son develops an interest as he gets older.

Don't give up .

As families get older, they often start to wonder about family history.
I was surprised when a couple of first cousins started asking me questions a few years ago.

I guess that I was no longer viewed as the "history nerd" cousin.

 

[lupaglupa]

I mostly do the research for myself, but am thrilled when someone else wants to look at it.

 

[Joe Whitworth]

Sad to say the least but not surprised with society today.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

I asked my father-in-law his mother's maiden name and his grandparents ' names and he didn't know. His parents were Italian immigrants and all the records are back in Italy, assuming they survived the WW2 battles.