Maine family with 18 children

kinderfest

Yesterday, a reader named Kristin let me know about a Bagnor Daily News article about the 18-child Rancourt family of Winterport, Maine.

The parents, Harry and Alice, wed in 1909 and went on to have 17 children (and adopt one more):

  1. Dorothy, born in 1910
  2. Gaspar, b. 1911
  3. Mildred, b. 1912
  4. Leo, b. 1914
  5. Marion, b. 1916
  6. Marguerite, b. 1917
  7. Corinne, b. 1919
  8. Clara, b. 1920
  9. Harry, b. 1921
  10. Leon, b. 1923
  11. Clayton, b. 1924
  12. Alton, b. 1926
  13. Kenneth, b. 1927
  14. Reginald, b. 1929 (grandson adopted after his mother, Dorothy, died during childbirth)
  15. John, b. 1930
  16. Celestia, b. 1931
  17. Geraldine, b. 1932
  18. Iris, b. 1933

Which of these 18 names is your favorite?

8 thoughts on “Maine family with 18 children

  1. I like these names:
    Dorothy
    Mildred
    Clara
    Clayton
    Alton
    Reginald
    Celestia

    Was Marion a boy or a girl?

  2. I like Clara, Iris, and Clayton. I also like that their children’s names aren’t “themey.”

  3. Such a neat article! My great-grandparents are in the same generation as this family. Five of them came from families of 10+ children. One of my great-grandmothers came from a family of twenty children.

    Corinne, Gaspar, and Celestia are the names that stand out to me in this family.

  4. That’s sad about Dorothy! I like Gaspar for some reason! I also like Corinne, Clara, Alton, Reginald, Celestia and Iris.

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