The WHY ME Podcast

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On December 19th, 1981 in Mercer County, West Virginia, Racheal Christina Lester was born. 

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Her, like many other firstborn daughters before her, are all part of a tradition that transcends generations. 

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Hello and welcome to the WHY ME podcast. 

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I’m your host, Morgan Cook, and I’m here as your tour guide through the mountains as we dive into Appalachian culture. 

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Appalachia is a region full of rich culture and deep-rooted traditions. 

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One very prominent tradition is how we give our children names. 

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Our names are a large part of who we are and importantly say a lot about our family and where we are from. 

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So can you tell me a little bit more about the naming tradition and how it works in our family? 

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Is a cherished family tradition dating back before 1935 that the first daughter, born to each woman, carries her grandmother’s name or a part of it as a way to honor the generations of women who came before her and to keep our family heritage alive. 

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Our family, like many others in this region, have adopted a tradition with our names. 

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Commonly, in Appalachian names are repeated, recycled, or only slightly changed. 

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This emerged another naming practice. 

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Double names. 

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Double names emerged in order to help differentiate between people with the same repeating or commonly used names. 

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Examples of this includes Mary Beth, Betty Ann, or like my own name, Morgan Lee. 

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So to wrap up a very broad topic in very little time, Appalachian name traditions are a lot more thought out than one would think. 

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Thank you all for listening and thank you to University of Mary Washington. 

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I’m Morgan Cook and I’ve been your humble host. 

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See you next time a project is due.