changed name.

[stoney43]

hi all..... just a quick question
 How does one find out if an ancestor has changed their name. By deed poll or any other way.
is there any official list.
Dave.

[ThrelfallYorky]

Apparently people didn't need to do anything official - just sort of let it be known, or simply start using the new name. Some I was researching did that, and a right tangle it led to! There is the instrument known as DEED POLL, and I seem to recall that the London Gazette published those,so it may be worth searching there. I spent ages searching for marriages for a female, only to realise she simple slid into "Mrs....." whoever she was with at the time. Slow diligent elimination was the only way to narrow down what had happened. Good luck.

[patrexjax]

Hi and a warm welcome to Rootschat!  I had a similar situation in my tree.  A big help is IF she lived in the same place before, during and after the "name change."  Good luck!  patrexjax

[KGarrad]

The laws of England & Wales allow anyone to call themselves whatever they like!
Just as long as it's not done with intention to deceive or defraud.

[stanmapstone]

Welcome to Rootschat
There is a National Archives Research Guide for  Changes of name  at http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/change-of-name.htm which should tell you what you want to know.

Stan

[GrahamSimons]

I've blundered into a few in the London Gazette, one where someone double-barrelled his name by moving his middle name to become part of the surname. But I know of others where the name simply changed - and indeed where the individual seemed to use both the old and the new name in parallel (that was actually helpful in searching)
However - I've come across an immigrant Polish family in early 1900s who seem to have pitched up with a new, invented surname.
And as an aside - it seems that plenty of new arrivals at Ellis Island were effectively given new surnames on arrival as the clerks couldn't deal with what they said.
And another aside - many Chinese who come to the UK these days adopt a Western name rather than using their given names. Again nothing official: we have just needed to be very careful with things like exam certificates for them.

[joboy]

hi all..... just a quick question
 How does one find out if an ancestor has changed their name. By deed poll or any other way.
is there any official list.
Dave.

Hi Dave ......... what period are we talking about?
Joe

[chempat]

If you believe the ancestor has changed his name, you could give us the 2 names and where you have found him (or her) and we could have a look at censuses etc to see if we agree with you.

Or we could suggest other possibilities.

[stoney43]

thanks everyone
      didn't stop me for more than a couple of years so when i finally thought that a name change was the way to go everything cleared up. still haven't got the heart to throw out all the accumulated paperwork though....thanks

Dave