How reliable are naming patterns on the Isle of Man? I know from my Scottish ancestry (particularly my Orcadian family) that the following pattern was regularly observed:

1st son - named after father's father
2nd son - named after mother's father
3rd son - named after father

1st daughter - named after mother's mother
2nd daughter - named after father's mother
3rd daughter - named after mother

If my William IS the son of William Howland and Margaret Christian, his first four children being Mary, William, Margaret and Charles fits this pattern exactly!