Genealogy Chat

Blimey that could really scupper some research then!! :O) Thanks everyone for clearing up the mystery. xx

Yes, a person can be registered by one name, and a different name used in a census and other places.

Geroge V was always getting confused with the King! {ahem} And to join in with the others: In Spanish they say 'Me llamo ...', which means 'They call me ...'.

Diana A birth registration is just that, a register of birth. It doesn't mean you are stuck with the name on the cert for life. Interestingly, I've just been to a Family History Day at the British Library and we were shown a copy of a marriage cert which has the bride's name as Samuel. In the space for signature she has signed herself Sarah. Clearly a clerical error! Queen Mary (wife of Geroge V) started life as Princess May of Teck. nell

Could it be that the registrar misheard and wrote down the wrong name? Pat The law hasn't changed; you're still legal with a 'y' : ) As long as there's no intention to deceive or defraud, you may call yourself whatever you like without official documentation. Sometimes a declaration or reference from someone who knows you well may be needed to placate organisations if your 'known as' name differs significantly from the 'official' name.

Don't forget, a birth can be registered without a name being given to the child at all! All those 'male' and 'female' entries. Kate.

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

is the one Jeanette found the rite one? Roy

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

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

there is a mary- MMN Creasby mary- MMN Morris

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?