Pugh/Price Nickname?

[donovana]

Can anyone tell me why my Welsh family went by two surnames.  On their birth, marriage and death records they go under the name of Pugh. One the census's they go by the name Price.  My great grandfather's death certificate is under the name Pugh and his obituary in the paper goes by the name Price.  Has anyone else come across this or knows why it is?

This has made searching for this family very difficult.

Thanks,

[Llwyd]

Hi there,

On the basis of the details given there is no obvious/apparent reason for the use of two differing names by your family.

However,this phenomenon is not unknown and it is quite common for Welsh families to have nicknames by which they are better known than by their real names,especially locally.

As the official documentation,birth,marriage and death certificates,seem to be in the name of Pugh then I would say that is the family name.They may have been known locally by the census enumerator/newspaper reporter as Price and consequently that name has been used.

Whom did your great-grandfather marry---was it a Price or was his mother a Price?. Is there a question of illegitimacy at all?.

One thing I do agree with is that it can be very annoying when searching censuses.

Best of luck. 

[donovana]

My great grandmother was a Morris and her mother was an Ellis so the Price didn't come from there.  It's not a matter of being illegitimate.  I guess it's just one of those things that I will never know.

Thanks,
Barb

[NigelG]

It may be a throw back to the old patronymic naming pattern where some people or families were known by the father's christian name rather than the surname (sorry sounds confusing!)

Officially (on legal documents for eg) the surname may be Pugh but your  great grandfather & his family may have been referred to locally as Price - possibly his father's christian name.

In some instances, it can be even more confusing as some families were referred to by the christian name of the grandfather!

[donovana]

Thank you for your response Nigel.  You are probably right in that Price is a family name (given or surname) somewhere in the past and may or may not come to light sometime in the future.  I appreciate you input.

Donovana