Let's look at whether parents named their first born after themselves. Using the families which started in the period 1750 to 1775 at the Hebron Church:
George and Maria Margaretha named their first girl Anna Barbara, and the first boy Johannes.Johannes and Susanna named their first boy Josua, and the first girl Anna Magdalena.
Christoph and Christina named their first two as Maria and Ephraim.
Johannes and Barbara named their first two as Margaretha and Johannes.
Nicolaus and Margaretha named their first daughter Elisabeth, and the first son Aron.
Matheus and Elisabetha named the first boy Daniel, and the first girl Maria.
Nicolaus and Dorothea named their first two as Daniel and Elisabetha.
Heinrich and Susanna named the first girl Maria, and the first boy Johannes.
Michael and Elisabeth named their first son Johannes, and the first daughter Barbara.
Christoph and Catharina named their first daughter Maria, and the first son Ruben.
Peter and Maria named the first child Hanna, and (probably) a first son Moses.
Georg and Margaretha named the first girl Rahel, and the first son Johannes.
Peter and Maria named their first child Elisabetha, and the first son Elias.
Zacharias and Delia named their first child Benjamin, and the first daughter Elisabetha.
Christoph and Maria had Susanna and Josua as their first two children.
Wilhelm and Maria had Barbara and Samuel as their first two children.
John and Elizabeth had Elisabeth and Aron as their first two children.
Conrad and Rahel had a first daughter Elisabetha, and a first son Nimrod.
Georg and Maria Sara had Maria Barbara and Ludwig for the first of each sex.
Friederich and Maria had Elisabetha and Ephraim for their first girl and boy.
Michael and Mary had Salomon and Rebecca for their first two.
Johann Georg and Anna Magdalena had Julius and Elisabeth as their first.
Adam and Elisabetha had Ambrosius and Margaretha for first born.
Michael and Maria had Adam and Anna Magdalena for their first two children.
Henrich and Elisabetha had Dinah and Joseph.
Zacharias and Els. (probably Elizabeth) had Johannes and Maria.
Michael and Margaretha had Aron and Maria.
Peter and Elisabetha had Zacharias and Margaretha.
John and Margaretha had Lorenz and Elisabetha.
Henry and Barbara had Michael and Molly.
The parents were very reluctant to name their first children of each sex after themselves. And, using some knowledge that I have of the grandparents, they were not named after them either. So I have always been skeptical of the "rules" for naming children.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.