Adding a middle name after birth?

[KGarrad]

My uncle was registered at birth with 2 Christian names, and then baptised just two weeks later with a third one added. However , all his life he has just used the two original ones on documents, and so I am not sure he even knows about the third name. I presume that in legal terms, the names he was registered with are his official ones, not the baptismal ones.

There is no such thing as an "official" name?
As I said before, the laws of England & Wales (& Scotland, I believe) allow anyone to call themselves anything they like.
Just as long as there is no intention to defraud or deceive.

Noted, thankyou. But for my family history records, would it be correct to note his registered name or his baptismal one?

I would show him with the 3 names
But does it really matter?

Many people prefer to be known by a 2nd name - e.g. John James may have called himself James throughout his life. Would it be more "correct" to show him as John or James?

[Lidfam]

My uncle was registered at birth with 2 Christian names, and then baptised just two weeks later with a third one added. However , all his life he has just used the two original ones on documents, and so I am not sure he even knows about the third name. I presume that in legal terms, the names he was registered with are his official ones, not the baptismal ones.

There is no such thing as an "official" name?
As I said before, the laws of England & Wales (& Scotland, I believe) allow anyone to call themselves anything they like.
Just as long as there is no intention to defraud or deceive.

Noted, thankyou. But for my family history records, would it be correct to note his registered name or his baptismal one?

I would show him with the 3 names
But does it really matter?

Many people prefer to be known by a 2nd name - e.g. John James may have called himself James throughout his life. Would it be more "correct" to show him as John or James?

It matters to me because I like my records to be factually correct, as should we all. What you are suggesting is no different to recording an ancestor as a nickname that he is always referred to, such as Lofty or Smudge.

[KGarrad]

It matters to me because I like my records to be factually correct, as should we all. What you are suggesting is no different to recording an ancestor as a nickname that he is always referred to, such as Lofty or Smudge.

But not recording an ancestor as Lofty or Smudge makes your records factually incorrect?

For example, should Elton John only be recorded as Reginald Kenneth Dwight?
Or Cliff Richard as Harry Rodger Webb?

I use RootsMagic, which allows me to record other names, and to select one as the primary name.
So I record all names by which someone was known.

[Lidfam]

It matters to me because I like my records to be factually correct, as should we all. What you are suggesting is no different to recording an ancestor as a nickname that he is always referred to, such as Lofty or Smudge.

But not recording an ancestor as Lofty or Smudge makes your records factually incorrect?

For example, should Elton John only be recorded as Reginald Kenneth Dwight?
Or Cliff Richard as Harry Rodger Webb?

I use RootsMagic, which allows me to record other names, and to select one as the primary name.
So I record all names by which someone was known.

Ok maybe it's just me, but yes, I do believe Elton and Cliff should be recorded as Reginald and Harry, unless they were legally changed by deed poll, otherwise they are just little more than nicknames. This hobby is all about facts, and documentary evidence, as you will know, and regardless of what people call you , or you call yourself, everybody was given a name at registration, a legal document, and that is, for me the name you have to be recorded as.

[a-l]

I record their proper names and where they used second names put known as.

[Josephine]

It seems there are a lot of different approaches to this.

If someone was listed by a nickname in documents such as the census or BMD records, I'll put that nickname in quotes, e.g. Elizabeth 'Betsy' Oliver.

An exception to that rule: my great-grandmother was named Isabella Grace but was identified as Jane in every census record with her parents. She wasn't called Jane as an adult (according to her grandchildren) and it isn't on any official documents that I've found. So I mentioned it in the 'notes' section for her entry but didn't put Jane in quotes as part of her given name.

If someone in Scotland had a name that was interchangeable with another name, and both names were used on different documents, I'll write it as Jean/Jane Oliver, for example.

If there were multiple different spellings of a surname, I'll pick one and stick with that, but any transcripts I make of individual documents will be accurate and stick to the source, however the name may have been recorded, e.g. Currer, Curror, Currar, Currier or Currie.

In my own life, I've always been called by my middle name, but official government documents insist on identifying me by my first name (it's the rule: everything must match), so sometimes a doctor's office will have my full name on a file, but they'll underline my middle name to indicate that's what they should call me. I can't do that on my genealogy file (I use Reunion 11 for the Mac) where I enter the names but I could do it in any print-outs or in the notes facility.

Regards,
Josephine

P.S. In cases of people using a surname they weren't given at birth (usually a step-father's surname), I'll record them as SMITH a.k.a. OLIVER.

[mike175]

I always use the birth registration or, more often, the baptism name as the primary name where available. Things can get very confusing though because people even changed their surnames in some cases. Like KGarrad I also use RootsMagic which allows alternative names; it seems a pretty good system to me.

[Billyblue]

Being known by other than your first forename is quite different to being known by a nickname.

I too use my second forename and the whole family always have done so. My first name came about because my much hated godmother demanded it of my mother and that it be my first name.

 It really annoys me when people say "Oh is your REAL name xxx [my first name]?"  My usual reply is "Only people who do not know me, call me by that name"

Dawn M

[Bearcub]

One of my relatives acquired the middle name 'Snowdrop' on her death certificate! It certainly wasn't included on any of her earlier documents, so I presume it was a nickname / pet name that she was known by. Particularly as her death was registered by her husband. I thought it was quite sweet.
As others have mentioned, provided there is no intention to defraud or deceive, you can use whatever names you like, so I have just added this name in brackets to my records.