Here's another... Illegitimate Ancestors - Helpful Hints Sooner or later, most genealogists stumble across an illegitimate ancestor. Old parish registers often reveal this information, but there were various ways of expressing illegitimacy, some of them in Latin. In Latin, "ignotus" means unknown. So records sometimes say, "nomine ignoto" meaning the father's name was unknown. "Filius Populi" means son of the people. This reference in English records often covers cases where the father was known to be a local man, but might be one of two men. It also can mean that the father was anybody's guess. "Filius nullius" means son of none. This terminology was used in cases where the father was a stranger (in that parish) or the mother couldn't or wouldn't say who he was. There are other tiny clues to be found in parish records, so it's important to copy the references exactly. For example, if you find a record that reads something like, "Johannes filius Mariae Jones et reputat (ur) de Johanni Smith," it translates to John, son of Mary Jones and by repute of John Smith. What that means is that the father either admitted paternity or that paternity had been proved. But if the record read, "Johannes filius Mariae Jones et imputat de Johanni Smith," it means the mother claimed the father was John Smith, but he wouldn't admit it or else the case hadn't been settled. Other terms you may run into are "ut fertur" meaning as it is said (or believe it if you like), and "dictus" or "p(rea) dictus", meaning the said, aforesaid (man). "Voctus" means called or known as. A common way of showing illegitimate paternity in English records was to give a child his father's full name and his mother's surname. The idea was that if the couple married later, the mother's surname would be dropped. Knowing about the use of double surnames for illegitimate children is very useful to genealogists, but in genealogy, there are always exceptions. In London, Lancashire, Yorkshire and among non-conformists, the use of a complimentary second surname from the mother's family, the pastor or a rich uncle, came into vogue in the early 1800s and again later in the Victorian period. If you discover a reference to John Jones Smith, and it occurs anywhere but in a recognized gentry family before about 1840 in England, it should alert you to the possibility of illegitimacy, but remember the exceptions. In the late 19th century the English sometimes used a hyphenated surname such as Armstrong-Jones, but for reasons of ancestral snobbery, not illegitimacy. So when researching English records, remember this popularity of double surnames in particular localities and time periods for other reasons than the marital status of a child's parents before assuming an ancestor was illegitimate. >From the Bureau Co. Gen. Society