Hello Karen, Thank you for responding so quickly -- and with a similar situation. That's helpful! I'd love to hear from any others about experiences with variations in women's given names in records. Besides the usual spelling variants. My Isabel is also Isabelle, Isabella and Isobella is records. Those I understand... it's the change to Eliz. or Elizabeth that is confusing. Barbara Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:32:14 +1100 From: Karen Hodges <rowantreek@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [ENG-SHROP] Women with two given names in Shropshire To: eng-shropshire-plus@rootsweb.com Hi I have a sister to an ancestor in Lancashire during the mid to late 1800's who is listed alternatively as Isabelle and Elizabeth. I think the two names were used like Mary is to Maria, meaning the same person. Karen ------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 6:52 AM, Barbara Petura <barbara_petura@yahoo.com> wrote: Hello, I am familiar -- from my German genealogy -- with women who had two or more given names and used them alternately in different records. My favorite example is Anna Margretha Groth who married John Nicholas Luehr. She was called Anna in some records, Margretha in others, but I finally confirmed these references were all to the same woman, my 2nd great-grandmother. My question is whether that same situation occurred with women in Shropshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. I have a specific puzzle that I am trying to solve.... involving an ancestor recorded as Isabel sometimes and Elizabeth in others! Barbara