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Investigating Names to Explore Personal History and Cultural Traditions

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet." "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." "A good name is better than riches." There are lots of sayings about names, and most of them are at best only partially true. In this lesson, students investigate the meanings and origins of their names in order to establish their own personal histories and to explore cultural significance of naming traditions. Students begin by writing down everything they know about their own names, then the teacher shares details about his or her own name story. Next, students use an online tool to research their own or someone else's name and share their findings with the class. Finally, students write about their own names, using a passage from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street as a model.

Featured Resources

Interactive Venn Diagram : Use this online tool to compare and contrast information, or while reading to compare and contrast two works of literature.

From Theory to Practice

In "Exploring Heritage: Finding Windows into Our Lives," Jessica Matthews-Burell explains, "By investigating the etymology and significance of our names, we realize that name-giving practices vary from one culture to another" (33). When Diana Mitchell asked students to explore naming, they were "fascinated to hear how different racial and ethnic groups had different naming traditions" (65). Mitchell observed:

Many of the Latino students had been named after someone special, usually a relative who had a close relationship with the family. Many of the African American students found that their parents had created a name especially for them. The Caucasian students were often named just because their parents liked the name. In some families a close friend had been allowed to choose their name as a sign of their importance to the family. (65)

Using the copy-change imitation process explained in Getting the Knack (90-94), students can explore all these many aspects of their own names, gaining insight on their own personal history and understanding how naming is part of larger cultural traditions by comparing their own examples to those of other writers. Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
• Baby Name Books
• Name Story Assignment
• Comparison Prompts
• Copy change demonstration sheets
• Name Meanings Chart
• Sample Student Copy Change Passages
• Specialized Baby Name Books
• What's in a Name?

Preparation

• Make copies or transparencies of the Name Story Assignment , excerpt from Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street , and Sample Student Copy Change Passages .
• Create overhead transparencies of the Copy Change Demonstration Sheets .
• Schedule this lesson so that students will have time to interview or gather details about the names they’re exploring. If you complete the first session on the last day of a week, for instance, students will have the weekend to interview someone for the activity.
• Gather Baby Name Books from your library, being sure to obtain books that cover a range of cultural names. Try to find books that provide some details on name origins, frequency of use, historical figures with similar names, and so forth. In addition to the books included on the general list , there are numerous books that explore specific naming traditions .

Students may not have access to family members who can provide background on where their names came from. Additionally, if a student’s name points to a source of contention within that student’s family or elsewhere, provide alternative options for this activity. Ideally, simply explain during the first session that students can research someone else in their family or community, and provide examples of other possible choices (e.g., the school principal’s name, the town mayor’s name). Students might also research the names of heroes, celebrities, or historical figures. Work the alternatives into the activity naturally so that students with special situations do not feel singled out.

• Test the What’s in a Name? interactive on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tool and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page.

Student Objectives

Students will

• explore naming conventions.
• analyze the underlying connotations of names.
• analyze the ways that name-giving practices vary from one culture to another.
• compose personal statements on their own names, based on a model.

Session One

• Explain that during this unit students will focus on personal names.
• How did you come to be named?
• Who made the decision about your official names?
• What nicknames do you have?
• What names do you like or dislike and why?
• If you could pick out your own names, what would you select?
• After students have had enough time to record their thoughts, gather the class and share some details about your own name story, explaining how you came to be named, how you chose a nickname, or another story about your name.
• Demonstrate how to use the What's in a Name? interactive to research information about your name (or if you prefer choose the name of a student or the name of a literary character). Students can read the excerpt from Baby Names for Dummies , which is linked in the interactive independently, or you can read the piece aloud as a group.
• Before students begin their research, explain that they will share their findings with others in the class. Emphasize that students should be careful to gather information that they are willing to (and won't be embarrassed to) to share with others.
• Allow students time to use the interactive to research the names.
• Once students have had time to research names, or when about five minutes remain in the class, invite students to share any interesting details that they found in their research.
• Pass out copies of the Name Story Assignment , and ask students to complete the activity for homework. Be sure to allow enough time between this session and the next for students to gather the information and complete the writing. Emphasize that students are only gathering ideas, and explain that students will share their research during the next session.

Session Two

• Arrange students in small groups, and ask them to share the details that they found out about their own or someone else's name.
• Ask each group to choose one story to share with the whole class.
• Gather students, and ask each group to share the story that they have chosen.
• What do names tell us about people?
• How are names part of a person's history?
• How were the names that weren't chosen part of the stories?
• How do name-giving practices vary from one culture to another?
• With basic information about naming established, share the Excerpt from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street , in which Esperanza, the book's protagonist, thinks about the meaning and significance of her name.
• What does Esperanza's name mean literally in English and Spanish? What is the denotation of her name?
• What connotations does she associate with her name? Why does her name mean sadness or waiting?
• What images does Cisneros use to make the connotations clear? Why are they effective?
• What personal details does the passage include? What cultural information is included?
• Share the Sample Student Copy Change Passages , reading through all of the examples with the class.
• Divide students into at least three groups. Ask each group to compare one of the student samples to the original by Cisneros . If class size requires more than three groups, more than one group can work on each passage.
• If desired, use the Comparison Prompts to guide group discussion. Students can also use the Venn Diagram student interactive to gather and organize their thoughts.
• After groups have had ample time to compare their two passages, gather the class and ask groups to share their observations.
• Draw out comments that touch on the relationship between images and text structure in the different passages.
• If students do not volunteer the connection, explain that the student samples are modeled on the passage by Cisneros.
• Explain that during the next class session, the class will follow a similar process to create passages about their own names.
• For homework, ask students to create a connotation versus denotation list on their own names. Share the Name Meanings Chart format with the class to structure their homework.

Session Three

• Explain the copy-change process: In copy-change, you borrow the structure and ideas of the original passage, but add your own images and ideas.
• To demonstrate the process, display "Original Sentence I," from the Copy Change Demonstration Sheets , using an overhead projector. Cover the lower half of the overhead.
• Read the passage aloud for the class.
• Ask students to identify things about the "Original Sentence I" that they would need to pay attention to if they were creating their own passages modeled on it. Note their comments on the board or on a piece of chart paper.
• If students bring up the issue of the sentence structure, encourage them to talk about how they would divide the sentence into its structure. Again, note their comments on the board or on a piece of chart paper.
• Reveal "Structure of Original Sentence I" from the Copy Change Demonstration Sheets , talking through the way that the sentence has been constructed.
• Use as few or as many words from the original as you wish.
• Stay close to the structure of the original.
• Use approximately the same number of words as the original.
• After students have written their copy-change sentences, ask volunteers to share their work with the class.
• Once several students have shared their work, ask students to comment on how the new versions compared to the original sentence.
• Encourage students to make observations about the ways that the structure of the original is mirrored in the structure of their own versions.
• Ask students to make any observations about the words that they borrowed from the original passage. It's likely that most students borrowed the word once from the original. Allow students to hypothesize why so many borrowed the same word. Note : The words that people "borrow" are often little structure-setting words like "once"-"since," "before," "first," "then," "only," and "because"-"function" words that shape the sentence's meaning.
• Share "Original Sentence II" from the Copy Change Demonstration Sheets , reading the sentence aloud to the class. Cover the lower portion of the sheet.
• Ask students to identify the structure of "Original Sentence II" and to predict which words would be borrowed and which would probably be replaced with substitutes.
• Reveal the "Copy-Change of Sentence II" from the Copy Change Demonstration Sheets , reading the sentence aloud to the class.
• Have students compare the two versions, noting how the new version compares to their predictions.
• In their notebooks, ask students to compose their own copy-change sentences based on "Original Sentence II," following the same guidelines they used for "Original Sentence I."
• Again, after students have written their copy-change sentences, ask volunteers to share their work with the class.
• Answer any questions that students have about the process, and continue to encourage comparisons to the original and to the class predictions.
• Turn attention to the naming project that students are completing. Read the Excerpt from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street through once, emphasizing the rhythm of the passage.
• As the class did with the copy-change demonstrations, ask students to explore the sentence structure Cisneros uses in the passage.
• Ask students to identify the way that the passage uses fragments and simple and complex sentences as well as the structure-setting words that are used in the passage.
• Once you're certain that students have a basic understanding of the structure of Cisneros' passage, ask students to return to the Sample Student Copy Change Passages .
• Based on their new exploration of the copy-change process, ask students how the samples compare to the original and to identify the ways that their understanding of the structure of the original and its use of structure-setting words is reflected in the samples.
• Thinking about their work on these three different original passages and the related copy-change versions, ask students to brainstorm a list of characteristics of a good copy-change response. Note their responses on the board or on chart paper. Alternatively, students can work in small groups and then share their responses with the class.
• With feedback and suggestions from the class, work together to shape the list of characteristics into a rubric for copy-change writing. Focus on maintaining students' phrasing and understanding of the copy-change process as you create the class criteria for the naming writing project.
• With the criteria established, explain the homework project that students will complete: create a copy-change version of the Excerpt from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street that focuses on your own name or the name that you investigated during the previous session.
• To begin the process, students should return to their notes from previous sessions, including their homework from the previous session (the connotation versus denotation lists). The information on their names should provide the research for their copy-change writing.
• Answer any questions that students have about the assignment, and allow them to begin work on the project in any remaining time during the session.
• Remind students that they will share their copy-change passages with classmates at the beginning of the next session.
• If possible, type the rubric students have created and make copies to use during the next session.

Session Four

• Begin the session by reviewing the rubric for copy-change writing that was created during the previous session.
• Ask students to share any observations or questions that resulted from their work on their copy-change passages.
• Arrange students in small groups of three or four each.
• In their groups, ask students to read and respond to the copy-change passages by the others in their group. Encourage students to compare the passages to the original by Sandra Cisneros as well as to the passages by other group members.
• Additionally, using the class-created rubric, ask students to provide feedback for one another on how well the passages meet the criteria. Encourage students to make suggestions for improvement as appropriate.
• If available, pass out copies of the rubric for students to refer to as they work.
• As students work, circulate through the class, providing help and feedback as needed.
• Once students have provided one another feedback, allow them to begin the process of revising and editing their passages.
• With five to ten minutes remaining in the session, ask student volunteers to share their current drafts with the entire class.
• Before the session ends, ask students to complete their revisions for homework. Announce that the final draft will be collected at the beginning of the next session.
• Use the ReadWriteThink lesson Avalanche, Aztek, or Bravada? A Connotation Minilesson to explore naming and connotation in more detail.
• If desired, you can use the Interactive Venn Diagram at any point in this lesson to compare two versions of the passage. Ask students to list characteristics of the original in the left circle, characteristics of the copy-change version in the right circle, and features that the two versions share in the overlapping middle section.
• Extend the copy-change exploration by sharing some of the works by Cisneros and asking students to apply the same strategies to create poems of their own, modeled on Cisneros’ work.
• Have students do an author study of Sandra Cisneros. The Sandra Cisneros Websites from Thompson-Gale Resources and the WebEnglish Teacher feature biographical information and other classroom resources you can use.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Use the rubric that the class creates in Session Three to assess students’ copy-change passages. Be sure that your feedback separates any criticism of the features of the passage (e.g., departs from the sentence structure of the original) from the feelings and emotions that students reveal in relationship to their names. Names are very personal, and students may reveal raw emotions as they talk about who they are and how they were named. Work to ensure that students do not feel you are grading them on their emotions. If desired, ask students to reflect on the unit in their journals. You can ask students to respond to one of the following prompts:

• What have you learned about yourself or about naming as a result of your research and writing?
• What surprised you the most and why?
• What were the most interesting naming traditions you discovered in hearing the research and findings of those in the class or in relationship to the name you researched yourself? What made the traditions compelling?
• How were your feelings about your own name influenced by this project? Did they change or stay the same? Did hearing about others’ naming stories change your own feelings?
• Shakespeare wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet” in Romeo and Juliet . Based on the naming stories and your work on this project, would you agree or disagree? Explain your response.
• Almost everyone has heard the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Now that you have spent some time thinking about names and naming traditions, do you agree or disagree with the saying? Explain your response.
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Students brainstorm all the various aspects of Latinx culture and compile topics to research. Groups then research topics and present their information to the class.

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Welcome to your first at-home project of the year!  Below you will see the directions to the project.  Students have been given a copy of the directions and they have been explained in class.  

If you continue scrolling down, you'll see some sample artwork projects and written reports as well as links to help students start their research.  Part of the research is the story behind how and why that name was chosen for them.  Be prepared to be interviewed by your student.  If your student has questions about the expectations, please encourage them to talk to me as soon as possible.  

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Links to help you get started on your research:.

Names.org                               Wikipedia                             Behind the Name

Name joke: What did the hamburger name his daughter?

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How to Name a Project

Last Updated: September 15, 2021

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 117,914 times.

In the past few decades, the Internet has seen an immense boost in popular use all around the world. As the Internet has developed, it has become one of the primary platforms for project development. As such, the number of new and existing projects--both personal and commercial--has skyrocketed. Projects need to have names that distinguish them from other projects, but coming up with a unique and effective name can be difficult. Knowing how to name a project can be the difference between a project that catches someone's attention or doesn't.

• One exception to this is if you're going to append an identifier to your name. For example, the name "Zeus" is too generic and overused on its own, but if you are developing a new instant messenger, the name "ZeusIM" could work well.

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• ↑ https://blog.rebrandly.com/brand-name/
• ↑ https://www.columnfivemedia.com/how-to-choose-a-brand-name
• ↑ https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/7-deadly-sins-to-avoid-when-creating-an-awesome-brand-name.html

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This book is the outcome of more than four decades of experience of the author in teaching and research field. Research is a creative process and the topic of research methodology is complex and varied. The basic premise for writing this book is that research methods can be taught and learnt. The emphasis is on developing a research outlook and a frame of mind for carrying out research. The book presents current methodological techniques used in interdisciplinary research along with illustrated and worked out examples. This book is well equipped with fundamentals of research and research designs. All efforts have been made to present Research, its meaning, intention and usefulness. Focussed in designing of research programme, selection of variables, collection of data and their analysis to interpret the data are discussed extensively. Statistical tools are complemented with examples, making the complicated subject like statistics simplest usable form. The importance of software, like MS Excel, SPSS, for statistical analyses is included. Written in a simple language, it covers all aspects of management of data with details of statistical tools required for analysis in a research work. Complete with a glossary of key terms and guides to further reading, this book is an essential text for anyone coming to research for the first time and is widely relevant across the disciplines of sciences. This book is designed to introduce Masters, and doctoral students to the process of conducting scientific research in the life sciences, social sciences, education, public health, and related scientific disciplines. It conforms to the core syllabus of many universities and institutes. The target audience for this book includes those are going to start research as graduate students, junior researchers, and professors teaching courses on research methods. The book entitled “A guide to Research Methodology for Beginners” is succinct and compact by design focusing only on essential concepts rather than burden students with a voluminous text on top of their assigned readings. The book is structured into the following nine chapters. Chapter-1: What is Scientific Research? Chapter-2: Literature Review Chapter-3: How to develop a Research Questions & Hypotheses Chapter-4: Research Methods and the Research Design Chapter-5: Concept of Variables, Levels and Scales of Measurements for Data collection Chapter-6: Data Analysis, Management and Presentation Chapter-7: Tips for Writing Research Report Chapter-8: Glossary Related to Research Methodology Chapter-9: References It is a comprehensive and compact source for basic concepts in research and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. The target audience for this book includes those are going to start research as graduate students, junior researchers, and professors teaching courses on research methods.

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Tools for Thought

Using AI to Enhance the Way We Think

Much AI research focuses on solving specific tasks for people – generating content or automating processes. While such systems may be powerful, there are risks that this approach may bring to human cognition. They may impact the way people think and therefore learn, build skills, and grow expertise for example.

The Tools for Thought (T4T) team aims to put human cognition at the heart of our systems. Our goal is to help researchers and systems builders to focus not just on automation, but on augmentation , imagining how AI might help people to think better .  To this end, we research the impact of AI on aspects of cognition and use this to design and build systems that support individual and collective intentionality, enhance skills in critical thinking, and develop cultures of creativity and experimentation.

We imagine that AI can enhance human cognition, so that:

• as well as getting the job done, it helps us better understand and figure out the job.
• as well as creating content, it helps us think more critically and with more insight throughout an entire workflow.
• as well as seeking speed and efficiency, it helps us create outcomes that are more effective and of higher quality because they are the product of better answers from better questions.
• as well as augmenting individual cognition and tasks, it augments collective cognition and workflows.
• as well as automating known processes, it helps organisations predict and explore the unknown.

Our research looks at how cognition can be supported and scaffolded by interacting with a tool for thought, as well as how it can be undermined by AI systems. It will be grounded in theories of cognition including:

• metacognition
• reflective and critical thinking
• divergent and convergent thinking
• learning, recall, and understanding
• individual and distributed thinking
• decision-making

Outputs of T4T will include  principles and guidelines  for supporting cognition in any user experience, as well as systems and new technologies that stand as  practical instantiations  of what it means to support better thinking using AI. These may be technical in nature, focusing for example on methods for tuning models, model explainability and coordinating multi-agent systems.

Workstreams

The Tools for Thought team are exploring a broad range of themes, outlined in the table below.

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Methodology

Research Methods | Definitions, Types, Examples

Research methods are specific procedures for collecting and analyzing data. Developing your research methods is an integral part of your research design . When planning your methods, there are two key decisions you will make.

First, decide how you will collect data . Your methods depend on what type of data you need to answer your research question :

• Qualitative vs. quantitative : Will your data take the form of words or numbers?
• Primary vs. secondary : Will you collect original data yourself, or will you use data that has already been collected by someone else?
• Descriptive vs. experimental : Will you take measurements of something as it is, or will you perform an experiment?

Second, decide how you will analyze the data .

• For quantitative data, you can use statistical analysis methods to test relationships between variables.
• For qualitative data, you can use methods such as thematic analysis to interpret patterns and meanings in the data.

Table of contents

Methods for collecting data, examples of data collection methods, methods for analyzing data, examples of data analysis methods, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about research methods.

Data is the information that you collect for the purposes of answering your research question . The type of data you need depends on the aims of your research.

Qualitative vs. quantitative data

Your choice of qualitative or quantitative data collection depends on the type of knowledge you want to develop.

For questions about ideas, experiences and meanings, or to study something that can’t be described numerically, collect qualitative data .

If you want to develop a more mechanistic understanding of a topic, or your research involves hypothesis testing , collect quantitative data .

You can also take a mixed methods approach , where you use both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Primary vs. secondary research

Primary research is any original data that you collect yourself for the purposes of answering your research question (e.g. through surveys , observations and experiments ). Secondary research is data that has already been collected by other researchers (e.g. in a government census or previous scientific studies).

If you are exploring a novel research question, you’ll probably need to collect primary data . But if you want to synthesize existing knowledge, analyze historical trends, or identify patterns on a large scale, secondary data might be a better choice.

Descriptive vs. experimental data

In descriptive research , you collect data about your study subject without intervening. The validity of your research will depend on your sampling method .

In experimental research , you systematically intervene in a process and measure the outcome. The validity of your research will depend on your experimental design .

To conduct an experiment, you need to be able to vary your independent variable , precisely measure your dependent variable, and control for confounding variables . If it’s practically and ethically possible, this method is the best choice for answering questions about cause and effect.

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Your data analysis methods will depend on the type of data you collect and how you prepare it for analysis.

Data can often be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. For example, survey responses could be analyzed qualitatively by studying the meanings of responses or quantitatively by studying the frequencies of responses.

Qualitative analysis methods

Qualitative analysis is used to understand words, ideas, and experiences. You can use it to interpret data that was collected:

• From open-ended surveys and interviews , literature reviews , case studies , ethnographies , and other sources that use text rather than numbers.
• Using non-probability sampling methods .

Qualitative analysis tends to be quite flexible and relies on the researcher’s judgement, so you have to reflect carefully on your choices and assumptions and be careful to avoid research bias .

Quantitative analysis methods

Quantitative analysis uses numbers and statistics to understand frequencies, averages and correlations (in descriptive studies) or cause-and-effect relationships (in experiments).

You can use quantitative analysis to interpret data that was collected either:

• During an experiment .
• Using probability sampling methods .

Because the data is collected and analyzed in a statistically valid way, the results of quantitative analysis can be easily standardized and shared among researchers.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Chi square test of independence
• Statistical power
• Descriptive statistics
• Degrees of freedom
• Pearson correlation
• Null hypothesis
• Double-blind study
• Case-control study
• Research ethics
• Data collection
• Hypothesis testing
• Structured interviews

Research bias

• Hawthorne effect
• Unconscious bias
• Recall bias
• Halo effect
• Self-serving bias
• Information bias

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses . Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

In mixed methods research , you use both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods to answer your research question .

A sample is a subset of individuals from a larger population . Sampling means selecting the group that you will actually collect data from in your research. For example, if you are researching the opinions of students in your university, you could survey a sample of 100 students.

In statistics, sampling allows you to test a hypothesis about the characteristics of a population.

The research methods you use depend on the type of data you need to answer your research question .

• If you want to measure something or test a hypothesis , use quantitative methods . If you want to explore ideas, thoughts and meanings, use qualitative methods .
• If you want to analyze a large amount of readily-available data, use secondary data. If you want data specific to your purposes with control over how it is generated, collect primary data.
• If you want to establish cause-and-effect relationships between variables , use experimental methods. If you want to understand the characteristics of a research subject, use descriptive methods.

Methodology refers to the overarching strategy and rationale of your research project . It involves studying the methods used in your field and the theories or principles behind them, in order to develop an approach that matches your objectives.

Methods are the specific tools and procedures you use to collect and analyze data (for example, experiments, surveys , and statistical tests ).

In shorter scientific papers, where the aim is to report the findings of a specific study, you might simply describe what you did in a methods section .

In a longer or more complex research project, such as a thesis or dissertation , you will probably include a methodology section , where you explain your approach to answering the research questions and cite relevant sources to support your choice of methods.

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Hundreds of Saints players uncovered by monumental research project

More than 200 names have been added to the list of former Northampton Saints players thanks to the painstaking research of one individual over an 18-month period.

Back in 2018, at the request of [former Director of Rugby] Chris Boyd and [current Director of Rugby] Phil Dowson , a list of over 2,000 names was created featuring every player who had represented the Club from 1895 onwards. Each of them was awarded a historical player number, and their place cemented in the archives.

A pub fire in 1895 unfortunately destroyed Club records prior to that date. As a result, some of the earliest players from before 1895 were not included in the previously published list. 

Step forward Saints Season Ticket Holder, Tim Jones. During the lockdown periods of the global pandemic, the retired IT worker used newspaper archives and tools such as Ancestry and FindMyPast to scour nearly 1,500 match reports between 1840 and 1895.

Including players who played for St James’s End Mutual Improvement Class, St James’s End FC and Northampton St. James, Tim documented 269 people who played for Saints between 1882 and 1895.

Of these, 34 already had Saints numbers, but the remaining 235 players have now been awarded Roman Numerals – which will supplement the existing historical numbers, with no changes being made to the original numbers list which starts with Saint #1 E.T. Abell whose debut came in 1895.

Tim was inspired to throw himself into this monumental undertaking after supporting his wife Claire – who is well known to Saints supporters as the red-hat wearing photographer – when she led a research project into the Mobbs’ Own volunteers back in 2019-2020. 

“I just found that whole process absolutely fascinating,” said Tim. “I wanted to see if we can use some of those same tools to find some of the early players before 1895 when the Club’s records were lost and give them the recognition they deserved.  

“One of those players was Teddy Dunkley (VII) who played in the very first match I found a report for in 1882. He was one of the great stalwarts of those early days. He played 80 times for St. James’ End, was Club Captain for a while and served on the committee for many years. I believe that it was his pub in town where the records were lost in the fire. Now he has a player numeral, and we have his playing record.

“That is why I was doing all the research and it kind of snowballed into something bigger, it became huge.” Tim Jones

“I was interested in that early history of football in the town and how Saints came to be the predominant club. At one point there were 20 clubs regularly playing in and around Northampton. As I read through the historical record, I could see that the Unity Club was the ‘top’ club in town, whilst St. James struggled to get good fixtures or much attention from the press. 

“I always felt there was this sort of posh-boy thing going on, with Unity the establishment club, with all the connections, compared with the very working-class background of St James. In the end, Unity went bust due to hopeless financial mismanagement and St. James picked up the pieces.”

The key publications that were used for the research were the Northampton Daily Reporter (now the Chronicle and Echo) and the Mercury.

Having started his research by using the search terms ‘Northampton’ and ‘football’, Tim soon found himself plunged into a project that he believes was around ‘six to eight months of work’ across the research period, though Claire insists it was much more than that!

“I have found myself getting really involved with some of the names,” he said. “William Slingsby Godfrey (CII) for example who has an incredible life story worth a book of his own, or ‘Billy’ Moring who played at half-back more than 120 times.

“It is almost like being a fan of that team, it is that same feeling you get, you feel like you know some of these players.” Tim Jones

Like his time following the men in Black, Green and Gold, there were plenty of highs and lows experienced during the process.

While adept in the world of spreadsheets from his many years working for the Ford Motor Company, the Cambridgeshire resident did encounter a few stumbling blocks. 

“My slight tendency to worry too much over the detail was an issue,” he said. “I have got records from all the town clubs who played at the time. Although I was mostly interested in the Saints stuff, I would end up recording all the players from a match report of St Michael's versus St Lawrence and the only reason I am doing it is for completeness of the record. 

“A new club might pop up for six weeks and I would have to open a new spreadsheet and do all the prep work and admin around it, then they would disappear again before we got through to the end of the season. I found that a bit frustrating.”

Alongside gathering the names and playing records for his project to be added to Saints’ archives, there were other discoveries about the sport itself along the way.

“In the early games, the eight-man forward pack had not been really fixed,” said Tim. “They often played with three half-backs or with someone that they called a wing forward who was halfway between a forward and a three-quarter. These wing forwards were much looser and played in the three quarters.

“The scoring system is wholly different. The only way to score in those earliest matches was to kick a goal. You were only allowed to kick a goal if you scored a try. There were ‘minor points’ available for tries, touch-downs (forcing the defence to ground the ball behind their own try line) and several other actions, but these were only relevant in the event of a tie. Many of the earliest matches were played on the Racecourse, but I have no idea if they had any posts or how they organised that!”

Tim’s drive to create a meaningful record of those that played for Northampton Saints in the early years is now ready for public consumption.

“I have been waiting for this day,” he smiled. “Even though it is really niche; a huge amount of effort has gone into it.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and it will be lovely to see it published and an official record. I’m sure we will find that we need to add more players or matches in future, but the numbering scheme should allow us to.” Tim Jones

“That was what was missing – and that’s not to criticise the existing list, that was the best record that was available. I love the heritage player list, this is an extension of it. When I started, it wasn’t obvious that it was going to work at all. I think the results are way beyond what I expected. There may well be another extension should that book ever turn up!”

Northampton Saints Club Historian, Graham McKechnie, added: “This is a really important and interesting piece of work that Tim has done. It’s been an extraordinary labour of love, ploughing through thousands of pages of newspapers to find the match reports which are often quite sketchy.  And as a result of this work, the early Saints players are rightly being acknowledged.  

“Without these men, we simply wouldn’t have the Club, so we are indebted to their commitment and vision. Thanks to this research we have their names but also we have a glimpse into their lives and to Northampton society in the 1880s and 90s.

“Due to the nature of these early match reports, we cannot definitely say that the list of these players is complete or absolutely accurate. Other names are bound to pop up and can be added as necessary. But thanks to Tim’s work we now have a much clearer idea of who these pioneering Saints players were.”

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