Family Historian User Group

I’m slightly confused by the Given Name Used and Primary name. I’d assumed the Given Name Used would show in the focus window but apparently not. If I prefer to see the name he/she would be commonly known by displayed in the focus window, is the only way to do that by entering it as an “alternative name” and make it Primary?

Have you seen what's in the FH Help for "Given Name Used"?

“Given Name Used” is for cases where the name a person was known by was one of their names, but not the first. For example, even before she was baptised, her parents may always have intended that Jean Clare Smith should be called “Clare” say - or perhaps even “Jean Clare”. In the first case you would enter "Clare" as the given name used. In the second, you would enter "Jean Clare". If she was always known as "Jean" there is no need to enter this in the "Given Name Used" field, and we recommend that you don't. If no name is specified as the given name used, Family Historian will assume that it is the first given name.

The Focus Window generally shows all Given Names for each Individual, but if space is limited some Given Names will be abbreviated to their initial letter. If one of the Given Names is specified as "Given Name Used" that name will be abbreviated last.
Perhaps what you are after is what is known as a "Nickname". Nicknames are not used in the Focus Window, but other displays, e.g. diagrams, can be configured to show Nicknames as well as (or instead of) actual Given Names.

Thanks, Peter. Yes, I did see that but it didn’t clarify which “status” was displayed in the focus window. My late father’s full name was Percy John Shelley, but he only used his full name for documentation and was always known as John Shelley. So to see his full (unfamiliar) name in the main display felt odd and I wanted to change it to John Shelley. To me it seems more logical that if a person was better known by a different name from his “official” name, it would be that which would be given prominence on display. But that’s obviously not the way the program is set up! But no worries, I can get around it by using the “add alternative name” (i.e. his full name).

Wendy, you can customise the names to display whatever you are comfortable with, but the genealogy convention is for the Primary Name to hold the registered Birth Certificate name. So even when women marry their Primary Name will still be their birth name and not their married name.

In Diagrams and Reports and in the Caption at the top of the Property Box it is possible to configure the Name to display whatever you prefer, but NOT in the Focus Window.

As a newcomer I advise you study how_to:key_features_for_newcomers|> Key Features for Newcomers.

Thank you for your useful comments. Mike. The principle does make sense, I must admit! I’ll go and get familiar with the Newbie information.