Family Historian User Group

Any ideas on how to record the above? I have a baptism entry which relates to the above child being named as George. I would like to record the birth but don't really want <no name> followed by his surname. Many thanks.

If you are quite certain the baptism relates to the same child, I would enter his name in FH as George. Then cite the birth certificate as a Source for the date and place of birth but add a note saying that his name had not been decided at the time of registration of the birth.

Just to satisfy my curiosity, how do you know the name on the Birth Certificate is a surname?
Usually on a Birth Certificate, the column 2 Name, if any. is just the forename(s) of the child.
The surname has to be deduced from columns 4 Name and Surname of Father. and 5 Name and Maiden Surname of Mother..

I agree with Lorna. There are often cases where the details in a Fact are not all necessarily justified by each Source Citation. In this case add the Baptism Source Citation as justification for the forename.

Sorry, maybe I didn't explain it very well! The child's forename on the birth certificate is missing from Column 2 - however Columns 4 (Name and Surname of Father) and 5 (Name and Maiden Surname of Mother) are filled in with all of the parents details.

Like Mike, I am always curious when the unusual turns up.

Just a couple of thoughts that you may have already covered but maybe worth saying.
1) Was there a subsequent registration of the name?
2) Is the birth certificate an original or a certified copy and if the latter did it come from the Registry Office or the GRO? - Just thinking that if it is a GRO copy, has the first name been passed on by the Registrar when forwarding the extract of the register?

Brian

Hi Brian,
There was nothing added in the Baptismal Name after the Registration of Birth. To be honest, normally I wouldn't have took a chance and ordered it, however the GRO had the additional extra information that the Mother's Maiden Surname was given in the indexes so I was pretty sure I had the correct child. As the parents registered the birth within two days maybe he was not expected to survive.

As it is a copy from the GRO I think that I would phone the Registrars Office where the original registers are held to see if they would have a look at the register to check for any possible annotations. You may be lucky and get hold of a helpful person who would like to assist in establishing why a first name was not entered. Brian

Getting back to your original question, I too have come across this situation a few times, and don’t consider it too unusual. You’ve only got to look at freebmd to see how many Male and Female entries there are!

I simply enter infant or child as forename and select correct sex to indicate boy or girl. I then add a note to show mothers maiden from GRO, and the fact he/she was registered wihtout a forename.
If there is a subsequent Christening; Census or Death registered showing the actual forename, I amend the record accordingly, leaving the note to remind me what happened.