What surname to use?

[Arkwright]

Hi all

My g g grandmother was using the surname of her previous husband when she married my g g grandfather, so I have entered her under that name in my Family Tree software programme.

However, her maiden name is obviously different.

So my question is, do I enter her surname as recorded on her marriage certificate to my gg grandfather, or do I enter her maiden name?

Many thanks in advance....

Arkie....

[bearkat]

I would enter her under her maiden name, otherwise you may have problems "attaching" her to her her parents.
BUT also enter her previous marriage as that explains the name on her marriage certificate and possible children from that marriage.

[JAP]

Hi Arkwright and Bearkat,

A genealogical software program which had the limitations suggested above would surely be one which nobody would wish to use!

Relationships should not in any way be determined or constrained by the surname of the individual concerned!  A relationship is a matter of fact.  A surname can be a matter of choice or happenstance and can vary throughout an individual's lifetime.

How you enter the primary name of an individual is for you to decide.

I use the name registered/recorded at birth (regardless of spelling) if that is available.  That name can vary widely from the individual's subsequent recorded names, and also from the surname of other members of the same family - not just because spellings were so variable in the past (I am researching one name where I have found upwards of 90 variant spellings) but also because pre-nuptial children were probably recorded under their mother's maiden name, and also because families sometimes chose to adopt an alias, etc, etc ...

I not only record individuals under that 'primary name' but also (as a name-variation) under every variant I have come across for them plus under every married name they have had (name-marriage).  That means I can always find them in the list of people in my program.  And, where the spelling of a name is very variable, I also record individuals under what I call an "index" name (name-index) - I choose something which is pretty obvious but which is never going to appear as a 'real' name; this means that all bearers of the name (by birth or by marriage and whatever the spelling) will appear (as well as under their primary or married names etc etc) together in alphabetical order of given name under the "index" name in the list of people in my program.

Hope that makes sense!

JAP 



 

[meles]

If I don't know the real surname, I call them "Mary Unknown" or whatever. I correct it when the real name turns up.

meles

[JAP]

Hi meles,

If I know someone only from their married name, I use as their primary name (for example):
Given Name: Mary
Surname: (Mrs SMITH)
and then, as you say, correct it if the real name turns up (which it often does).

Which means that I have lots of surnames (at the top of my program's list of people) as follows (for example):
(Mrs ANDERSON), Mary
(Mrs BROWN), Mary
(Mrs SMITH), Mary

But of course I also have such a person recorded (and thus in my program's list of people) as SMITH, Mary.

Cheers,

JAP

[geniecolgan]

Hi all

My g g grandmother was using the surname of her previous husband when she married my g g grandfather, so I have entered her under that name in my Family Tree software programme.

However, her maiden name is obviously different.

So my question is, do I enter her surname as recorded on her marriage certificate to my gg grandfather, or do I enter her maiden name?
jc

Many thanks in advance....

Arkie....

Depending on your software. I use PAF and it can handle multiple marriages. With the rising rate of divorces, I think most good programs can handle this.

In your case where granny remarried, if you know her maiden name - enter her under that. It does help to tie her to her ancestors.

Enter her first marriage - (use "Unknown" if you don't know full name) and the children. Then enter her second marriage, her second spouse & their children. In the case of PAF, on the Family View you can see that she has "Other Marriages".

[suey]

I record all mine under every name and spelling.

I use the name registered/recorded at birth (regardless of spelling) if that is available.  That name can vary widely from the individual's subsequent recorded names, and also from the surname of other members of the same family - not just because spellings were so variable in the past (I am researching one name where I have found upwards of 90 variant spellings) but also because pre-nuptial children were probably recorded under their mother's maiden name, and also because families sometimes chose to adopt an alias, etc, etc ...

I not only record individuals under that 'primary name' but also (as a name-variation) under every variant I have come across for them plus under every married name they have had (name-marriage).  That means I can always find them in the list of people in my program.  And, where the spelling of a name is very variable, I also record individuals under what I call an "index" name (name-index) - I choose something which is pretty obvious but which is never going to appear as a 'real' name; this means that all bearers of the name (by birth or by marriage and whatever the spelling) will appear (as well as under their primary or married names etc etc) together in alphabetical order of given name under the "index" name in the list of people in my program.

I've had that problem with name spelling variations, looking at the lists of names in my family tree programme it's difficult to tell which individual belongs to which family and sometimes an individual is hard to find.  I like the idea of an index name or letter.

Suey