Family Historian User Group

Hello,
I've just bought FH5 and its way better than FTM2012 in terms of diagrams.
Here's my problem...
one of my ancestors is Norwegian and has a patronymic surname... Jan Hendrik NORDSEN Grube
First names = Jan Henrik
Patronymic surname = NORDSEN
'Farm' name = Grube (except in this case they used his God fathers name which can mean miner -- don't ask).
FH deals with the issue of identifying the SURNAME allowing it to be show properly.
The problem is he changed his name when he came to the UK to -- Jan Hendrik KARLSEN -- and then married a local girl who was a widow.   His father was Nord KARLSEN Aasen.   In the patronymic system the son takes the father's first name as his surname:   Nord = NORDSEN == son of Nord.   If he were a daughter it would have been NORDDATTER.
FH shows her married to the above and NOT to the new name he adopted.   Is it possible to make this work?  
As a widow she married under her former husband's surname PEDERSON and not her birth name WILLIAMS.   I would like the boxes to show her as PEDERSON married to KARLSEN not NORDSEN.
Can anyone help me please with this issue?
This can't be just an issue for Scandinavian names, but applies where people change their name for whatever reason.

Any help would be much appreciated.

ID:6265

For consistency Family Historian shows a person under the same name. You can add additional names, although is it not common practice to keep showing different names at different times.

You may find this KB article helpful.

http://www.fhug.org.uk/wiki/doku.php?id ... iple_names

If you want to show all the names in the boxes you can use the + option on the name field. For reports of weddings for widows etc I include in the Note the names shown on the marriage certificate.

Many thanks for replying.
I had already added another name that appears in the box as a.k.a. name NAME

The spouse is shown as married to the name he was given at birth.   What I want to do is have her shown as married to the name he changed to in this country.
In other words I want the marriage link with the changed name not the original name.
I suppose it would be like giving a person 2 records -- one for the first part of their life, and another for the second part of their life.   Each would have relevant details, but they would be permanently linked together.   It would then be possible (?) to assign events, etc to whichever part of their life was relevant.
Am I making sense?
If it is possible I'm going to need help to make the changes in FH.

I don't think you can do this, it's not the normal way to do it, as it's the same person, as I said notes etc are the easiest way and if you use the name change events it can make reports etc cleared as much of the time FH reports use He or She after the first event anyway.

You re-order the names to match your requirements, but I certainly would not create two records for a single person, as it would make if very difficult for any who follow your research to understand the differences.

Thanks for replying.
Maybe I confused things by using the analogy of 2 records.
I wasn't thinking of creating 2 records just having it work as if it was.

What do you mean by 're-order the names to match your requirements'?
How can I make the existing record (have I used the term correctly?) know the person by one name from birth to a given date, and then another name from then on?
Can I make the marriage link to the second name and not the original name?
How do I do this?

It is not possible for an Individual Record to have two different Names.
If it did have two Names how would it know which one you wanted to display?
I am not aware of any genealogy software that offers that kind of feature.

However, there is a manual technique you could use:

Start by setting the birth Name as Jan Hendrik NORDSEN.
Then in the Property Box click the more (+)... link.
Click Add button and enter Alternate Name as Jan Hendrik KARLSEN.
You can repeat this for as many Alternate Names as required, remembering to include any Name Prefix or Name Suffix as necessary.

Now, here is the manual renaming technique:

When you want an Alternate Name to be the Primary Name in a Report say, then this is what to do.
Open the Property Box and select the All tab.
Select the Name tag against the name you want as Primary Name.
Then click the up arrow (top right) to move it up to the head of the list.
Now this Individual Record and any linked Family Record will adopt that Primary Name in Reports, etc.

This is what Jane meant by 're-order the names to match your requirements'.
The technique can be repeated as often as you like.

Furthermore, the Alternate Names can be included in Reports too, if you wish.
See Adjust AKA Names for Reports Plugin.

Thanks very much.
I'll need to mull this over and try and absorb it.

Thank you Tatewise.
I was almost there.   You got me the final step.
Now I have the NAME as primary and added a new fact -- Changed Name -- with a date and note.

At the top of the box is the primary name.
Underneath is a.k.a. NAME.
Is it possible to edit the a.k.a. in front of the NAME to something else?
If so, how can this be done?

I am guessing you mean the Box for the person on a Diagram.

With the Diagram displayed, use Diagram > Options and select the Text tab.
Click the Clone button and give what will be your edited Text Scheme a new name.

Now click the Edit button for this new (custom) Text Scheme.
In the right-hand Items Used list, select Name (a.k.a.) and click Edit button bottom right.
In the Template at the top edit the a.k.a. text to what you want.
You could also edit the Description if you wish.
To double check the Template is OK, click the Test button lower right.
Then click OK, and click OK again to reach Dagram Options window.

UNTICK the Save as default option bottom left and then click OK to update Diagram boxes.
When satisfied, use Diagram > Save Diagram As > Custom Diagram Type and give it a memorable Custom Diagram Name.

In future use View > Custom Diagram Types and choose that Custom Diagram Name.
Both the custom Diagram Type and Diagram Text Scheme can be saved in your Project folder by using File > Import/Export > Export.