Apologies if already discussed, haven’t had chance to catch up on all breads.
Q told us to look into the naming patterns of Germans during this period as it might help to reveal the secret to the post, here’s some information I’ve found:
“German Given Names Traditions
There are two German naming traditions genealogists should know.
The first is that German children were given two names, and the second name–not the first–is what you will find in records. This is because German boys almost always were baptized with the first name Johannes (or Johann, abbreviated Joh). German girls were baptized Maria, Anna or Anna Maria. (This tradition started in the Middle Ages.) This means a family could (and commonly did) have five boys with the first name Johann.
You can see the high potential for confusion until you understand that the first name doesn’t mean a thing.”
“Researchers often hope that a naming pattern will provide clues about the given names of previous generations. In German-speaking areas, children were almost always named for one or more of their baptismal sponsors. The most common pattern would be for sons to be named in this order: first born, for father’s father; second born, mother’s father; third born, father of the child; fourth born and on, uncles of the child. The same pattern applies to daughters but using the mothers’ names (father’s mother, mother’s mother, mother of child, aunts). Given names for children who died young (a common occurrence in centuries gone by) were reused by the family for children born after the deaths. There are even some documented instances where families used the same name for two children who both survived.”
TLDR; German first names mean nothing so they often use the middle name. Also there’s a pattern to how males and females are named based off their relations