I can't speak for all family history software but I use FTM and that can easily be accomplished. You can add alternative names for anyone. My grandfather was adopted and his record in my tree has both of his names (birth name and adopted name). You can also add an AKA to someone. So in this example you could create a record using Simon Mulvenny, add alternative names of Simon Nicol and Simon Nichol and even give him an AKA of "George" if it was applicable. You can choose which name you want to have the person indexed by by setting it as a "default". You can then add a note to any "event" or "fact" to state which name was used at that time. I have many where I have a note on their birth entry to say that the name was recorded as (for example) COLLINS, although the family used COLLINGS at the time. The same person may also have a note on the marriage entry that the name used there was COLLYNS. Another thing to remember is the the person involved in the event (baptism of Simon's child) probably wasn't checking on the person recording the event (clerk/vicar/etc) and so the clerk may have written NICHOL instead of NICOL and Simon was none the wiser. I'm sure he wouldn't ask to check that the entry had been done to his satisfaction. The clerk may have assumed that the name was spelled with a "H" as he knew someone that spelled it that way. -------------------------------------------------- From: "Gordon Johnson" <gordon@kinhelp.co.uk> Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] recording a name Here is one of these "difficult" occasions: A sailor named Mulvenny, supposed pressganged and eventually ending up at Ferryden, Angus, decides to stay. Simon Mulvenny of Montrose and Jean Anderson of Craig parish are married in 1799. He appears as "Nichol alias Mulvenny" in 1808 and 1817, but by the 1841 census he appears as Simon Nicol. His first child is baptised under Nicol in 1800, his second under Nichol and third under Nicol. So he changed his name from Mulvenny to Nicol/Nichol shortly after marriage (possibly to avoid being found again by the pressgang), but officials still include the "alias Mulvenny" in registers for some time afterwards. Genealogical software doesn't appear to be able to cope with such name changes and variants, so we have to do what we can within these limitations. Gordon Johnson.