Alias

[Siamese Girl]

What might "alias" mean?
 
I understand it (just) in the context of C16th&17th when some people seem to have gone under two surnames, but what does it mean in a list of poor people (parish of Ansford Somerset) in 1767 when someone is called "Esther Davidge alias Francis"?

My guess is she was Esther Francis but living with someone called Davidge out of wedlock.

Carole

[behindthefrogs]

Sometimes they are married and it is their maiden name.  The situation under which the names were used  might give an indication.
At other times both husband and wife could be using two names.

David

[hiraeth]

This link may help

http://mpsgg.com/WDIM/WDIM_24.html

Heather

[stanmapstone]

Alias, Latin for otherwise, or 'Also known as,' often abbreviated to 'als' in registers. It did not always denote illegitimacy. It has been used on marriage, on the remarriage of a widow to denote 'formerly'; to recognise changes of name, including some following immigration; to signify a common law marriage; to differentiate between different holders of common surnames; to acknowledge a personal inheritance from outside the family; to indicate stepchildren or fostered children, often in order to preserve rights inherited from their birth family. Discovering the reason for an alias is not straightforward, and each case has to be treated on its merits.
[The Family Tree Detective by Colin Rogers]

In legal papers a married woman often had her maiden name added as an alias to show her connection with the matter in hand.

Stan

[Siamese Girl]

Thanks - it looks more complicated than I thought.

Carole

[adee7]

Carole,

My Grandfather made a slight change in spelling of his surname when he was a young man, apparently because of troubles with his father.

 This made searching a little more difficult because we hadn't been aware of the change.

Heather,

Thanks for the great link.

Kathleen