'Wrong' name given at baptism?

[Melbell]

My grandmother was called simply Kate (and registered as such), but she told me that her parents wanted her to be called Kathleen.  However, being unwell, they couldn't get to church for her baptism so 'Old Mrs Davis' took her instead and told the vicar her name was Kate!!  I didn't ask her any more details at the time, but have often wondered who this interfering Mrs Davis was.  In a way the story sounds unlikely, but why would my grandmother make it up?  Her parents obviously thought they had to stick with Kate.

Melbell

[Rena]

I've got a copy of the church register where the vicar has entered the boy baby's name as the father and the father as the baby.  The parents then had a baby girl and the vicar even managed to interpolate the names again - which meant the dad was called Elizabeth     There was a handful of several younger babies but the same vicar managed to get their details right. Maybe his supply of whisky had run out lol

[BumbleB]

Just a thought - which was the earlier date - registration or baptism?

[Sloe Gin]

I've seen plenty of examples where the baptismal name differs from the registered name.  My grandmother was baptised Eleanor but registered as Ellen, which is the name she generally used.

Sometimes they can be very different.  I've established to my satisfaction that a child baptised as Sophia in 1805 was actually Elizabeth aka Betsy.  Can only guess why this happened - perhaps the vicar made a mistake or the parents just changed their minds.

[Treetotal]

My Grandma was registered as Margaret Ann but on her marriage certificate her given name was Marguerite Ann.
Carol

[andrewalston]

One of my ancestors has the wrong given name in the 1770 baptism register. It was only when I checked the BTs that I located him.

The official "Baptism Register" turned out to be a copy of some lost original, along with old transcription errors. The given name had been copied from the child above, losing me a couple of years' research on this line.

[Maiden Stone]

As Kate and Kathleen are both Katherine your grandma and her parents could have called her any of them, or something else entirely in everyday life. Perhaps Mrs Davis didn't like Irish-sounding names.
A 2x great-uncle was baptised John (a name from his father's family); his birth was registered under a different name - that of his mother's brother-in-law. 

[coombs]

My ancestor was baptised in 1864 as Mary Ann Katherine Roberts. When she wed in 1886 she said "Kate Roberts".

[roopat]

A girl I taught had a very unusual name & one day I asked her where it came from. She said  'my mum wanted it to be X' (A name I've never heard before or since) but my dad went to register me & got the spelling wrong so I've always been called Y'.


Simples! 


My mum was called Agnes and she used to grumble because on every letter, birthday card etc my dad wrote 'My dearest Angus'    I suppose my brother & I should be grateful our names were easy to spell.