Family Historian User Group

I have a relative that was recorded as Amy with her parent's surname on the 1881 census. Following the death of her mother was taken in (adopted?) by her aunt and appears as Annie with aunt's surname on 1891 census. She then gets married using Ann Eliza and her birth surname. The birth certificate says Ann Eliza as her christian names. Her name was obviously transposed incorrectly on the 1881 census. Does anyone have any ideas how to manage this variety of names for one person? I have started using FH v4.  

ID:4285

Dear MrB
I think many of us struggle with this problem. I have one woman on my tree whose birth record gives her as Ellen, she is Eva when baptised a couple of weeks later and the first census record shows her as Eliza, but there is little doubt these records are all for the same person.  My advice would be to put the name you are most likely to think of her by as the main name.  You can note alternative names in FH (and make them show up in your diagrams) - just make sure  you note which name came from which source in your notes, in case you need to unscramble anything later. For a while I used the name 'Ellen(or Eva)'as the main name on FH to remind me, but this was not helpful when I came to put my tree on-line (eg with Genes Reunited)as this would not match with anyone else's records.  I find the same with Surname alternatives - I tend to stick to the most familiar spelling to help me find, sort and generally make sense of the records, and note alternative spellings in the source notes.  I'm sure others are more rigorous, though!
Di

Thanks for your advice Di! Here's a good one, I have a relative whose name is Samuel and on one of the censuses he's down as Jameel. That took bit of sorting out. I also have problems with surnames John and Johns. Kind regards MrB