Genealogy Chat

Daft one but just been talking to daddy and he tells me that my mum thinks she was registered as May and not Mary which every other document says she is, but I have searched her birth and I can't find a May or a Mary in Oct 1937. Her mother was called Louisa and father was Charles. Can anyone help?

we could cast some eyes..but need a surname!!

Oops sorry its MARY ROSE GOODWIN Born Oct 1937

mothers maiden name was?? and where?

It would be useful to have her mother's maiden name. It might be relevant to have a place of birth. Christine SNAP! Jess

there is a May R Goodwin Davenport Kensington 1a 201 Oct 1937

Jess - thanks for trying to help but just realised I was being stoopid and was looking in 1837 not 1937. Her birth is registered as May Rose Goodwin..... but every document she has ever ever had is Mary Rose - how can this be?

there is a mary- MMN Creasby mary- MMN Morris

Chaps i am so sorry for wasting your time.... I will be more careful next time. thanks to you all for looking and yes you found her. xx

perhaps she chose to change it to be like the ship!!

is the one Jeanette found the rite one? Roy

Your name is what you are called. It just makes things a bit more complicated if there's a mismatch between documentary evidence. You could be registered as David Evans but, if you choose to call yourself Philomena McTavish, your name is Philomena McTavish. Christine

Hi Diana I have a similar thing with my husband's grandmother. The family believed her christian names to be Tryphena May, and that's what it says on her death certificate. Indeed, her daughter was christened Gladys May, and on the 2 censuses she is on, she is down as May. Yet when we sent for her birth certificate, she is down as Tryphena Darby (which was her mother's maiden name). We wondered if her parents changed their minds after they had registered the birth, and had her christened Tryphena May. I shall have to find the parish records to establish if this is correct. Do you think this might have happened with your mother? Tina

Yes its the one Jeanette found!! Thanks guys I was being really stoopid! Just don't get how legal docs can say Mary when she would have to have produced a birth certificate. Thanks again and sorry to have wasted your time. Promise not to do it again. xx

Tina, maybe.... her grandmother was called May so it makes sense for her to be called May, Mary must just have been an extension of that to avoid confusion as May Davenport lied with them when Ma was a child. xx

Like I said. You don't have to jump through deed poll hoops to change your name. It just might make it easier to prove your identity. But your legal name is what you choose to be called. There's nothing magic about the registration cert. Christine

You can be registered with one name but use another or different spelling BUT you cannot swap from one to another. My middle name on my birth certificate is spelt with an i but when I was a child decided to spell it with a y as I liked it better. I have continued to spell it this way ever since and my solicitor told me it is perfectly legal as long as I only use that spelling. If someone knows different i.e. the law has changed now I will bow to their updated knowledge. Pat

Christine thanks for that! Patricia - Dad was just telling me that she never knew her registered name was MAY until 2 years ago when she stumbled across her birth cert. xx

It's interesting that, in German & French, the way you give your name is different from the way we word it in English - it actually has a slightly different sense: ''My name is...'' - [suggesting no room for argument] ''Je m'appelle ...'' [''I call myself...'' but I can't account for what others call me!] ''Ich heisse...'' [''I am called...'' but, I suppose I could be called something else!] Christine

In welsh you give your name as ............. ydy i (......... am I - meaning I am .......) - some room for changest but not much. Diana - it happens to us all at sometime (from she how looks at the wrong year regually)