#morton data asks

[theotherdatablog]

Have Mike and Kressant ever explained the meaning behind their kids names???? Like there's the normal ones like Isabella and Jonathan, and then ones like El Roi?! I just don't understand

I can’t say I’ve found many explanations for any Morton children’s or grandchildren’s names, but I’ll give a quick rundown of the meanings I’ve found for all of Mike and Kress’s kids’ names. If I know why Mike and Kress gave their their kids the names they did I’ll mention it, but otherwise I’m going to assume they liked the sound or the meaning.

You might also note, her name is Kressant, which is pretty unusual in and of itself. On the Morton blog it was confirmed that it’s an alternative spelling of Crescent, as in crescent moon.

For transparency, my information is from behindthename.com and Wikipedia.

After the jump…

Michael Beveridge III: Michael is a traditional Hebrew name meaning “Who is like God?” and most heavily associated with the Archangel Michael. Beveridge is a Scottish surname, but I can’t figure out how it’s related to the Mortons.

Carlos Phinehas: Carlos is the Spanish (Kressant has some Puerto Rican heritage) version of Charles, which is from older German Karl meaning either “man” or “warrior” depending on the source. Phinehas is a Biblical name that appears multiple times, more commonly rendered Phineas in English.

Jonathan DeWet: They actually explained this one! Link here. Other sources I’ve found, however, say Jonathan means “God has given” rather than “God shall vindicate.”

Isabella Grace: Isabella is a Latinized version of Isabel, which is itself a derivative of Elizabeth. Elizabeth is Hebrew and means “my God is an oath,” plus appears multiple times in the Bible. Grace is the English word and can refer to God’s grace, though I wouldn’t be surprised to see it refer to physical grace of movement as well.

Byron Zizka: Byron is an English surname originally meaning “place of the cow sheds” and most notably borne by the poet Lord Byron. Zizka is after Jan Zizka, a Czech military general from the 1400s who defended the Hussites, a pre-Protestant reformatory group, against the Holy Roman Empire.

Harold Fletcher: Harold has its roots in Old English and means, approximately, “army leader.” It and variations thereof has been the name of several Scandinavian and English kings. Fletcher is an English surname, originally via French, referring to a person who makes arrows.

El Roi DeKalb: El Roi is a name of God from the Bible and means “the God who sees” or “the God who sees me.” DeKalb is a county in Georgia (as well as Illinois), but not the one the Mortons or Smiths live in.

Varina Brooke: I can’t find a definite meaning for Varina, but the most notable person with that name was Varina Davis, the second wife of Jefferson Davis and “First Lady of the Confederacy.” Brooke is from an English surname taken by people who lived near a brook or small river. EDIT: Kressant has explained that Brooke is after a friend of hers who has the same name and helped with Cab and Varina’s births.

[theotherdatablog]

Why do you say “announce or reveal”? That’s the same thing. Just curious, not trying to be mean at all! I enjoy your blog!

Good question, actually! Sometimes, members of this family don’t formally announce their pregnancies, but they will turn up in other family members’ social media visibly pregnant or talking about a pregnancy (like Lisë here, who gave birth to Kendall about three months after the picture was posted to the blog). That’s why I say “reveal” in some cases. I think I mentioned it in one of my older posts, but it’s always good to ask for clarification. Thanks for reading!

[theotherdatablog]

Do you have any idea why Katherine Esther Morton named her first daughter Catherine Esther instead of Katherine Esther?

That’s a very good question. It seems like both of them have gone by both spellings, actually: see this post and this post for Katie, and this post and this post for Esther. It depends on who’s blogging; Wesley (posts labeled ~w~) tends to use Katherine, whereas Addie uses Catherine. I looked up her voter records and Katie is legally Catherine, so I think both of them are officially Catherine, but that’s not necessarily what they use.

[theotherdatablog]

Jusr found your blog and learning about the Morton's. Do we have a Morton that is perfect for a Duggar or Bates courtship/marriage?

Pairing Up the Mortons and the Duggars/Bateses

All right! Just like @duggardata, I’ve kept a calculation going for the typical spousal age-gap for the coupled Mortons. Here’s how it compares to the Duggars and Bateses:

Typical Morton Age Gap: Male: -0.57 Years (-208 Days) | Female: +0.57 Years (+208 Days)

Typical Duggar Age Gap (via Duggar Data): Male: +2.33 Years (+852 Days) | Female: -2.33 Years (-852 Days)

Typical Bates Age Gap (via Duggar Data): Male: +3.09 Years (+1129 Days) | Female: -3.09 Years (-1129 Days)

We can set up a combined average for each pair of families by taking the mean of the age gaps of all couples in both families:

Combined Typical Duggar-Morton Age Gap: Male: +0.80 Years (+291 Days) | Female: -0.80 Years (-291 Days)

Combined Typical Bates-Morton Age Gap: Male: +1.03 Years (+377 Days) | Female: -1.03 Years (-377 Days)

Now…here’s an interesting point that didn’t come up when comparing the Duggars and Bateses. The youngest Morton is much older than the youngest Duggar and Bates. For that reason, I decided to also include GrandMortons in the calculations for the Duggars’ and Bateses’ ideal partners, to fill in the age range of the youngest members of the Duggar and Bates families. Anyway, let’s find out which (single!) Morton + Duggar, Male + Female pair (as Duggar Data has said, heteronormativity is theirs, not mine), and which Morton + Bates, Male + Female pair, has an age difference closest to their families’ Combined Typical Age Gap.

After running the numbers, the best Duggar-Morton pairing was Jordyn Duggar and Ronald Smith (apologies for the poor quality photo). As of November 2, 2018, Jordyn is 9.87 Years Old and Ronald is 10.81 Years Old. That makes them 0.94 Years Apart, or 344 Days. The top three Duggar-Morton pairings are:

Jordyn Duggar and Ronald Smith: 344 Days (Typical + 53 Days)

Jenni Duggar and Bret Smith: 199 Days (Typical - 92 Days)

Josie Duggar and William Morton: 92 Days (Typical - 199 Days)

Once again, after running the numbers, the best Bates-Morton pairing was Callie Bates and Carlos Morton. As of November 2, 2018, Callie is 9.25 Years Old and Carlos is 10.26 Years Old. That makes them 1.01 Years Apart, or 367 Days. Unfortunately, they will likely never meet since Carlos lives in Paraguay. The top three Bates-Morton pairings are:

Callie Bates and Carlos Morton: 367 Days (Typical - 10 Days)

Jeb Bates and Elizabeth Smith: 363 Days (Typical - 14 Days)

Judson Bates and Anna Smith: 405 Days (Typical + 28 Days)

Great Ask, Anon!

[theotherdatablog]

Somehow on my first read I missed that Martha named her daughter "Alexandria Alexander". I feel like that's a name she wanted to give a daughter since childhood or something. Is there a specific reason they haven't had more children? I was just wondering if they've ever said anything about it or if we should assume they're still the "as many as God gives us" type

It must be, because why else would you name your kid that???

Martha and Tayte haven’t mentioned anything about preventing, or about struggling to get/stay pregnant. I tend to assume they’re still the “as many as God gives us” type and just haven’t happened to have any more kids, but there could be more to the story. I’m not sure.

[theotherdatablog]

@ wedding anon

Hey! I’m working on the answer to your ask, but it’s taking a while as the post would be best with loads of pictures and compiling them all is time-consuming. It’ll be out in the next few days. Hang in there!

[theotherdatablog]

who will have the 50th and 100th grandchildren?

Who Will Have Grandchild #50 and #100?

As of right now (March 19, 2019), the predictor thinks that:

GrandMorton #50 will be Michael and Kressant’s #10 and will arrive in July 2021.

GrandMorton #100 will be Martha and Tayte’s #6 and will arrive in July 2029.

[theotherdatablog]

What is the highest number of Mortons who have been pregnant at the same time? What is the projected highest number at the same time in the future?

(for clarity, there are 3 pregnant Mortons in this photo, haha)

The most Mortons who have been knowingly pregnant at the same time so far has been 4, which has happened on 3 different occasions: (mothers listed in order of announcement, and sadly I don’t have photos)

November 15, 2015-February 4, 2016: Lisë with Carolina, Dorothy with Edwin, Katie with Jackson, and Kennedy with Mia.

May 17-July 1, 2018: Lisë with Elliot, Kennedy with Valerie, Kressant with Varina, and Dorothy with Brielle.

July 30-August 3, 2018: Kennedy with Valerie, Kressant with Varina, Dorothy with Brielle, and Alyssa with #3 due soon.

Yup, that’s to say that there was a gap of less than a month between Elliot’s birth and Alyssa revealing she was pregnant. The third period of four simultaneous pregnancies also lasted all of four days, since Kennedy (and Kressant) gave birth in early August.

Now, for the most at once in the future: the Morton Predictor currently expects there to be a maximum of 7 Pregnant Mortons at Once, which is predicted to happen from March 1-4, 2024. The expectant mothers look to be (in order of announcement again): Kennedy with #6, Campbell with #4, Martha with #4, Rachel with #10, Alyssa with #9, Mrs. Edwin with #2, and Kressant with #12.