Family Historian User Group

Can anyone say for sure what "Ma" might be.
I thought Maria or Martha, but is it a recognised abbreviation and if so for what? (It's definitely female)

Could you perhaps post a screenshot of the original document so we can see it in context.

Could be Maria (especially Spanish or Filipino), Mara, Mary...

Do you the country or origin? British, American, Spanish, etc...

It was England,
Ancestry baptism record, not original doc. It was MA in caps. I don't believe these were initials, but I think Ma as abbrev more likely.
I've seen entries from Devon where vicar abbreviated all the first names and he used Ma as well. Margaret and Mary were not Ma. So it must be something else.
I've seen plenty of examples of JNo but this is the first Ma.

Since you say MA was in caps, rather than Ma, could it stand for Mary Ann?

Could you cross-refer to the actual record you found, with details of Name, Date, Place, etc.
Then, if we can see the record in context it might help, or someone might find a related original document.

Thanks, but sorry, specific details are private.

Sorry, I thought you said the details were found on Ancestry in which case they are already public, as is the Church Parish Baptism Register from which they are taken. The details are also over 300 years old.

Having looked on Ancestry and found the records with the first name MA in Nottinghamshire, I think there are two possibilities.
1. It is short for Mary Ann (but that name was less common in 1710)
2. It is a quirk of the person who did the transcribing. You need to see the actual record to see what you think it really says.

Anne

tatewise wrote:Sorry, I thought you said the details were found on Ancestry in which case they are already public, as is the Church Parish Baptism Register from which they are taken. The details are also over 300 years old.

The record may be public but the information from me as to which record is private.
I won't be back.

Scribbler wrote: The record may be public but the information from me as to which record is private.
I won't be back.

What do you mean you won't be back? Is this an unusual way of saying "thanks to all of you who were kind enough to help me with this"? I genuinely don't understand!