Counterfeit birth certificates in 1920s?

[Noteventhebirdsareupyet]

It is possible that he had a short certificate from his original birth registration which would name him as Harold Arthur Forrest KOSELJ and he would simply tell whoever he presented it to that he was only known by the first three names.  He would be quite entitled to do that as a personal preference as long as he wasn't doing it to commit fraud.   This short certificate would not have parents' names on it though.

In another scenario, if they attempted to have a search done for an original birth registration but were unable to locate it, you would expect to see a late registration in the indexes in order for a birth certificate to be issued. There doesn't seem to be one.

Are you sure it was a birth certificate and not a certificate of baptism?

Debra 

And no, he definitely never heard of the name koselj. He was shaken to the core to be told he was probably adopted by someone over the phone while he was searching for a replacement birth certificate. He spent years searching for his true identity and never found out who he was. The only document that names him as Koselj is the divorce court file from Eleanor's first marriage which someone on the other thread discovered. So he definitely didn't casually drop the Koselj part.

[Jebber]

This is an example of the short certificate.