Benjamin McLane Spock was born May 2, 1903, in New Haven, Connecticut; his parents were Benjamin Ives Spock, a Yale graduate and long-time general counsel of the New Haven Railroad, and Mildred Louise (Stoughton) Spock.[3] His name came from Dutch ancestry; they originally spelled the name Spaak before migrating to the former colony of New Netherland.[4] As the eldest of six children, Spock helped take care of his siblings in various ways.[citation needed]