Changing Surnames

bobholbrook1938 · Post by **bobholbrook1938** » 20 Nov 2006 16:32

Can anyone help? I have ancestors whos name keeps changing The Name on death cert. is Holbrook as is Mariage cert. Birth Cert Shows him as allbrook as was all his siblings census shows the family name as Hallbrook. All of his decendants have birth certs,showing the name as Holbrook. What surname should I use in FH?[oops]

ID:1993

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 20 Nov 2006 16:41

Surname variants are very common, what I do is to simply add another name (you can do this on the All Tab) and source it to the relevant sources.

I use the name on the birth certificate/Baptism if I have one as the first listed name for the person, but as long as you source the name so people can follow your logic I don't think its critical as long as you are consistent in your approach.

In some cases I may also add notes to clarify alternate names or spellings, just to make sure I know why that variant is there.

bobholbrook1938 · Post by **bobholbrook1938** » 20 Nov 2006 17:04

Thanks Jane
I will do as you suggest, it makes sense[smile]

ChrisBowyer · Post by **ChrisBowyer** » 21 Nov 2006 14:58

Agreed in general, we usually use the name someone was born with and anything else as an alternative name, but sometimes you get a family where some of the kids are baptised (or even registered) with different spellings, presumably as interpreted by a different clerk or registrar, and it seems daft to give them all different names (also makes them more difficult to find later)

aragorn · Post by **aragorn** » 21 Nov 2006 17:30

I tend to give everyone in the family a 'common' surname where there are many variants and put the variants in as other names used.For example I have made the common name BRAZIER which is the one used in the present day and list the variants as BRASIER,BRAISHER,BRAYSHER,BRAZIAR,BRAYZER,BRAYZIER etc,etc.....
This means I can keep all the family together in the record list.
[grin]

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