Some gynecological notes I have compiled:

To reduce cost and economize space on the grave stone face, death dates were often 'rounded': i.e., deaths occurring in the latter half of the year (Jul-Dec) were rounded forward to the subsequent year.

A few gravestone terms that I’ve encountered are:
* The symbol 'Æ' (or 'AE') - this shows up on many 18th and 19th-century gravestones. It is the the abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "ætate", meaning ("at the age of"), e.g., "Æ 76 Ys, 10 Ms, 21 Ds"
* 'Consort of' indicates that a wife has died before her husband, who is named
* 'Relict of' is not as bad as it sounds; this indicates that a woman died a widow, and names the deceased husband who preceded her.
* 'Died in Nth year' indicates that the person had not yet reached the stated age; (e.g., "Died 1900, in their 67th year" means that the deceased was 66 years old at the time of death, thus a birth year of 1834.)

* A list of gravestone symbols: http://www.graveaddiction.com/symbol.html
* Common Latin inscriptions:
http://web.archive.org/web/20080725052145/http://www.savinggraves.org/education/bookshelf/latin.htm

Wonder why so many family members have same/similar names? There was a naming method prevalent in Europe and America during the 1700s-1900s, but not so much today. It looks like this:

First-born son named after his father's father
Second-born son named after his mother's father
Third-born son named after his father
Fourth-born son named after his father's oldest brother
Fifth-born son named after his father's 2nd oldest brother or his mother's oldest brother

First-born daughter named after her mother's mother
Second-born daughter named after her father's mother
Third-born daughter named after her mother
Fourth-born daughter named after her mother's oldest sister
Fifth-born daughter named after her mother's 2nd oldest sister or her father's oldest sister

Also, the names of deceased infants were often 're-used' by a subsequent sibling.

Some gynecological notes I have compiled:

To reduce cost and economize space on the grave stone face, death dates were often 'rounded': i.e., deaths occurring in the latter half of the year (Jul-Dec) were rounded forward to the subsequent year.

A few gravestone terms that I’ve encountered are:
* The symbol 'Æ' (or 'AE') - this shows up on many 18th and 19th-century gravestones. It is the the abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "ætate", meaning ("at the age of"), e.g., "Æ 76 Ys, 10 Ms, 21 Ds"
* 'Consort of' indicates that a wife has died before her husband, who is named
* 'Relict of' is not as bad as it sounds; this indicates that a woman died a widow, and names the deceased husband who preceded her.
* 'Died in Nth year' indicates that the person had not yet reached the stated age; (e.g., "Died 1900, in their 67th year" means that the deceased was 66 years old at the time of death, thus a birth year of 1834.)

* A list of gravestone symbols: http://www.graveaddiction.com/symbol.html
* Common Latin inscriptions:
http://web.archive.org/web/20080725052145/http://www.savinggraves.org/education/bookshelf/latin.htm

Wonder why so many family members have same/similar names? There was a naming method prevalent in Europe and America during the 1700s-1900s, but not so much today. It looks like this:

First-born son named after his father's father
Second-born son named after his mother's father
Third-born son named after his father
Fourth-born son named after his father's oldest brother
Fifth-born son named after his father's 2nd oldest brother or his mother's oldest brother

First-born daughter named after her mother's mother
Second-born daughter named after her father's mother
Third-born daughter named after her mother
Fourth-born daughter named after her mother's oldest sister
Fifth-born daughter named after her mother's 2nd oldest sister or her father's oldest sister

Also, the names of deceased infants were often 're-used' by a subsequent sibling.