Daily AncestorGodparent
A godparent, a godfather or godmother, witnessed a child's baptism and promised to help guide the child's religious upbringing.
Godparent is the everyday word, and sponsor the formal one; they mean the same role. Luther, Zwingli and Calvin all kept infant baptism with sponsors, so godparents appear in Lutheran, Anglican and Catholic records, but Calvinists in Scotland and the English colonies did away with them.
Repeated godparents across a family's children can help you sort out which relatives or friends lived nearby, and a child sometimes shares a godparent's first name.
As seen in a recordEpiscopal parish register, 1700s to 1800s
Godfather Saml. Pitt, godmothers Ann Pitt & Mary Coe
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Godparent." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/church/godparent. Last checked 2026-10-03.