"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw@bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote in message news:Pine.LNX.4.44.0201182203190.2028-100000@exp.bde-arc.ampr.org... > I look at it from the point of view of: Where does one go to actually visit > the place itself? Not: Where does one go to get records on the place? But which of these iis more important to a genealogical researcher? Admittedly, I galloped on a wild goose chase to the wrong county forty years ago. Further, I know that people will do it "my way" no matter the circumstances. However, the standard, accepted and recommended manner for entering places is to enter them as they were named AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT, accompanied by an appropriate footnote if circumstances dictate. "Translating" place names to their current name is considered to be an unwarranted and misleading alteration of historical data and a practice to be avoided. To be blunt, one criterion for evaluating an on-line database or a published genealogy is to to look at the place names in relation to the dates given. If the data says that someone was born in Page County in 1795 (36 years before it was formed), it is an indication the compiler lacks experience and the data is therefore suspect. Also, be careful how you use postal codes (ZIP in the U.S.) as a place indicator. These change more rapidly than place names. A good example is the Social Security Death Index. The original database maintained by the Social Security Administration has a ZIP code which represents the address of record with SSA at the time of death. Once the raw data from SSA reaches, for example, RootsWeb, it is enhanced by adding a city and state to the ZIP Code. Unfortunately, it is today's ZIP directory that is used to make the interpolation. In order to accurately translate the ZIP to a place, one would need a ZIP directory for the year of death. (This is why you sometimes see people complaining that the SSDI said a grandfather lived in a place that he never even visited! <g> Regards, Richard A. Pence, 3211 Adams Ct, Fairfax, VA 22030 Voice 703-591-4243 Fax 703-352-3560 Pence Family History <http://www.pipeline.com/~richardpence/>

On Thu, 17 Jan 2002, Richard A. Pence wrote: >"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw@bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote in message >news:Pine.LNX.4.10.10201112203270.24798-100000@exp.bde-arc.ampr.org... > >> ONE NAME for a place makes things easier..... > >It also can be a source of great confusion and error. Listing a birth in >1800 as being in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, or as being in >1843 in Monroe County, West Virginia, is one thing. Most people will know >that Louisana was not a part of the U.S. in 1803 (nor was Massachussets in >1770, for that matter) or that what is now West Virginia was a part of >Virginia until the U.S. Civil War. > >However, the difficulty comes with lesser known units. If one uses "the >modern name" for a county, then it totally misleads the reader. > >For example, I often encounter databases which say that a certain couple was >married in Page County, Virginia, in 1789. This is quite impossible, for >Page County was not created until 1831. The couple was actually married in >Shenandoah County - and the importance of this to the genealogist is that >Shenandoah County is where the record of the even will be found. So? As I said, my database supports notes for place names. In your example, I would put Page County, but in the note, indicate something such as: "Prior to 1831, Page County was part of Shenandoah County...." As long as the note is attached (either in printed form or GEDCOM), what's the problem? >The best rule of thumb for place names is to try to identify the place in a >manner that allows the reader to know where he or she should search for a >record of the event. > >From 1760 through 1805, my fourth great grandfather, Henry Pence, lived on >the same plot of land. His children, however, were born in two different >counties - Frederick County prior to 1772 and Shenandoah County after 1772. >If you search for that land today, you will find it is in Page County. A similar thing has happened at the STATE level too. Not counting VA/WV, prior to independence, NH was carved out of MA around 1700 (and so was VT and ME, but VT wasn't populated yet). >If I were to use your method and put the place of birth and most of the >marriages of Henry's 17 children as being in Page County, not only would >this be an impossibility (there was no Page County at the time), any >researcher looking among the records of Page County would find no trace of >Henry or any member of his family - they all were in Ohio at least 20 years >before Page County was created. (Yet I can find countless instances on line >telling the world that this child or that was born in Page County or married >there.) It seems as if your database doesn't support what my program does.... >I just got through responding to a calendar question. In that thread, it >appears that an author of a time line tried to be helpful and by so doing >hopelessly confused the issue. > >The same thing happens when you try to make things "easier" by making it one >name place. As with dates, places should be entered as they were given in >the original record. A good genealogy program can handles this without too >much difficulty. I look at it from the point of view of: Where does one go to actually visit the place itself? Not: Where does one go to get records on the place?

"Singhals" <singhals@erols.com> wrote in message news:3C42E6FC.723752EB@erols.com... > Actually, no, it isn't. GEDCOM was proposed for that reason, but > for reasons of economic clout, the development was largely at the > instance of the LDS church *because* it was an easy way for LDS > members to get the necessary parts of their data (name, date, > place) out of the genealogy program and into the Temple system. > And, for that to work properly, the format of the places has to > go small to large (otherwise the IGI shows Chev* instead of > Maryl). Non-LDS genealogists began using it to move data from > this program to that, with the results we've discussed here > before -- to wit, strange things happen to normal people. In the interest of historical accuracy, what we now know as GEDCOM was developed by the LDS church as an internal tool to assist in transferring data from personal computers to its main frame computer. Later, the specification were made public so other developers could incorporate them as a method of transferring data. In the beginning, the GEDCOM utilities were "approved" by LDS, but this approval did not mean that the program accurately implemented the specification, merely that the output of a program's GEDCOM utility was approved as a vehicle for submitting data to the LDS's Ancestral File. As for the entering of place names, I have noted that (at least in the old days when manuals were printed! <G>), each program gave considerable detail on how these should be entered. Anyone who followed directions shouldn't have had any trouble and, by golly, I think if you wanted "USA" understood, you could allow for that in your data entry without worrying about what happened when you exported information. (And, even if there isn't such a provision in every program, there are workarounds to get there.) Regards, Richard

I am sincerely interested in becoming certified or accredited and seek another alternative to BCG or ICAPGen. Does anyone know of such an alternative? I have read Cyndi's list and found her helpful suggestions for accreditation and certification, but perhaps I missed something? There are lots of educational opportunities, but I see only those two organizations as offering testing for accreditation or certification. I have waited two weeks for a reply to my questions to BCG, and I imagine that they are not accepting new applicants to their certification procedure? ICAPGen sounded great, but my work-in-progress, although very complete and well sourced, does not give me the requisite four generations in the midwest beginning with the generation born around 1876. I hope I have explained this correctly -- essentially, what they want for me to be able to pass the first hurdle with my submission of a pedigree and family group sheets is to have four generations living in the midwest beginning about 1876. Once that is out of the way, I can take the test. I think. I failed this furst hurdle because I have a grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather but the mother of my third generation never made it to the US and died in France. That disqualifies, actually, all of my families, because all were immigrants who arrived ca. 1850s. I could do a pro-bono four generation genealogy for a client who has the right combination of persons living in the midwest, but I think I will pass on that for now. I am so sorry to belabor the point. I present my problem once again this week because I don't know where else to get the information. How does the Association of Professional Genealogists fit in? They do not seem to be a certifying or accreditating agency, but a group that anyone "interested" can join? Maybe I should just keep genealogy as a hobby (-: and forget about all this other stuff. Thanks again, Buffy

try posting the address on uk.local.south.wales , there might be someone there who lives in or near the place that can have a look for you --

O > >Or, last resort, send a letter to Resident (house name + >address); be sure to put your return address on. If the Her >Majesty's Mail can't find it, they'll return the letter, saying >so. If they CAN -- you don't get the letter back, and now the >phone call should DEFINITELY pay dividends. > >Cheryl or go to the post code web site and see if its listed there --

Not what John is looking for as an answer, but I've got 1960/1970 marriage records for my surname from a microfiche at our local LDS FHC in Santa Fe, NM. I'd suggest a check at the local FHC and check their catalog for other records first. For instance I know that the death records for CA from 1905-1992 were available at 10c a ufiche; there were about 600 from what I remember. Also, I've got my surname's records for that period so know it WAS available. Don't know about now. It's a fantastic source. A typical line is: NICKELL,Elizabeth J sp's initials=JMH(*) d.age:88 co:70(LA) d.1/3/28 CA DC#: 993 (*)His full name was Joseph Mackel Haney NICKELL. I've found various files at the local FHC back to 1900 with marriage information, but I seem to remember it was pure luck and not any official CA registry. At one time I heard there was an "unofficial" copy at the San Jose, CA Special Collections Library that listed parents of the deceased. I'd have given my right arm for that but could never find anyone that could verify it; I might have flown out from Santa Fe, NM to zerox it!!! ;-) Don "D. Stussy" wrote: > > In CA, marriage records need not be public. For those that are, a trip to the > marriage filing desk at the courthouses (Superior Court) will probably be > needed. > > On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, J. A. Rea wrote: > >Yes, but also, how can I find LA area Marriage records for the 30s > >and 40s? ? ?

In CA, marriage records need not be public. For those that are, a trip to the marriage filing desk at the courthouses (Superior Court) will probably be needed. On Wed, 16 Jan 2002, J. A. Rea wrote: >Yes, but also, how can I find LA area Marriage records for the 30s >and 40s? ? ?

"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw@bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote in message news:Pine.LNX.4.10.10201112203270.24798-100000@exp.bde-arc.ampr.org... > ONE NAME for a place makes things easier..... It also can be a source of great confusion and error. Listing a birth in 1800 as being in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, or as being in 1843 in Monroe County, West Virginia, is one thing. Most people will know that Louisana was not a part of the U.S. in 1803 (nor was Massachussets in 1770, for that matter) or that what is now West Virginia was a part of Virginia until the U.S. Civil War. However, the difficulty comes with lesser known units. If one uses "the modern name" for a county, then it totally misleads the reader. For example, I often encounter databases which say that a certain couple was married in Page County, Virginia, in 1789. This is quite impossible, for Page County was not created until 1831. The couple was actually married in Shenandoah County - and the importance of this to the genealogist is that Shenandoah County is where the record of the even will be found. The best rule of thumb for place names is to try to identify the place in a manner that allows the reader to know where he or she should search for a record of the event. From 1760 through 1805, my fourth great grandfather, Henry Pence, lived on the same plot of land. His children, however, were born in two different counties - Frederick County prior to 1772 and Shenandoah County after 1772. If you search for that land today, you will find it is in Page County. If I were to use your method and put the place of birth and most of the marriages of Henry's 17 children as being in Page County, not only would this be an impossibility (there was no Page County at the time), any researcher looking among the records of Page County would find no trace of Henry or any member of his family - they all were in Ohio at least 20 years before Page County was created. (Yet I can find countless instances on line telling the world that this child or that was born in Page County or married there.) I just got through responding to a calendar question. In that thread, it appears that an author of a time line tried to be helpful and by so doing hopelessly confused the issue. The same thing happens when you try to make things "easier" by making it one name place. As with dates, places should be entered as they were given in the original record. A good genealogy program can handles this without too much difficulty. Regards, Richard A. Pence, 3211 Adams Ct, Fairfax, VA 22030 Voice 703-591-4243 Fax 703-352-3560 Pence Family History <http://www.pipeline.com/~richardpence/>

Thanks for a response but as my orginal post stated find the village isn't the issue - finding the house is - one house among a couple hundred when there's no guarantee it still exists - that's pretty much a key reason for finding a resource... "1 of 1" <borg@deadspam.com> wrote in message news:5gdc4uokfup3ed0j4bsd0cujfvfh8mf1gb@4ax.com... > On Wed, 16 Jan 2002 18:47:21 -0000, "Graham" > <graham@NOPSPAMwalter-family.org> spoke with words of wisdom , : > > >I have uncovered some addresses (from birth & wedding certificates) that > >refer to house names in a location. Here are a couple: > > > >Garon Villa > >Penrhiwceiber (Wales - 1901) > > > PLACE NAME GRID COUNTY > Penrhiwceiber ST0597 Glamorgan > > got to www.multimaps.co.uk and put ST0597 in > > --

Graham wrote: > > I have uncovered some addresses (from birth & wedding certificates) that > refer to house names in a location. Here are a couple: > > Garon Villa > Penrhiwceiber (Wales - 1901) > > and > > 14 Walcot Villas > Stratton St Margaret (Wiltshire - 1933) > > Finding the towns/villages hasn't been a problem - find the houses (or where > they may have been) is... > > Does anyone have knowledge of a resource or resources that may keep a record > of such things? Are you certain the houses don't still exist? Or that no one at either the local pub or library remembers where they were? A quick phone call to either asking if they can give you directions to (insert name here) may well pay off, if you've a map in hand too. Or, last resort, send a letter to Resident (house name + address); be sure to put your return address on. If the Her Majesty's Mail can't find it, they'll return the letter, saying so. If they CAN -- you don't get the letter back, and now the phone call should DEFINITELY pay dividends. Cheryl

In article <3c45cd0e_3@news2.prserv.net>, Graham <graham@NOPSPAMwalter- family.org> writes >I have uncovered some addresses (from birth & wedding certificates) that >refer to house names in a location. Here are a couple: > >Garon Villa >Penrhiwceiber (Wales - 1901) > >and > >14 Walcot Villas >Stratton St Margaret (Wiltshire - 1933) > >Finding the towns/villages hasn't been a problem - find the houses (or where >they may have been) is... > >Does anyone have knowledge of a resource or resources that may keep a record >of such things? > We had a similar problem - every reference to where a relative lived was to "Jesmond Villas" - even newspaper reports referred to him as "of JV". We also knew that his mother used the same address. We knew roughly which area it was in but... could we find the place? No. In the end we used local maps and the 1891 census records and found that the building that he was recorded as being in at that time (when we knew him to be at Jesmond Villas) was actually 148 Alverthorpe Road - no mention there of Jesmond Villas. His mother was the adjacent entry in the census but recorded as 37 Balne Lane (again when we believed her to be at Jesmond Villas). Puzzling until we actually visited the building (which had no name on it nor any sign that it ever did have a name plaque on it) which stood on the corner of the two roads and was actually a row of three houses - two of which seem to have been designated as Alverthorpe Road and the third as Balne Lane! I realise that this is an earlier period than you're looking at but I would think that the Local Record Office might be your best bet. -- Kate Essex, UK Wife to John, Full Time Mother to Christopher (10) and Rebecca (9) "How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? G. K. Chesterton

Hi Flanagan, This is a wierd co-incidence -- my father and two brothers have exactly the same middle names, ELLIS. The reason for this in our family was that my Grandfather was born with the surname of Ellis. At some point, he tagged the name Robertson onto the end of his name -- therefore going from plain Robert Ellis to Robert Ellis Robertson (Reasons still unknown). Once he had children he was a little concerned about the legality (needlessly it turns out) of having tagged Robertson onto the end, so named them all xxx Ellis Robertson. Ian. "LPurch6636" <lpurch6636@aol.com> wrote in message news:20020115190402.19042.00001658@mb-cl.aol.com... > I have many ancestors in my family with the middle name of > "Ellis." My question is: I am sure that there was an original person in the > family whose LAST name was Ellis. Does anybody agree? > > In case it would help, the first such ancestor I have with with this name is > Titus Ellis Perry, born in 1817 in Massachusettes; his father was Isaac Perry, > b. in Vermont and his mother was Betsy Galloway. Titus and his brothers and > sisters were to move around the country so that Titus died in West Holman twp, > Osceola Co., Iowa. Titus had a son called George Ellis Perry. Titus' daughter, > Jane Maria Perry, was to marry Wallace Spencer and they had a son called Austin > Ellis Spencer. They also had a son called George Albert Spencer who with his > wife had a son called George Ellis Spencer, my grandfather And on and on it > goes with the Ellises!! (Was the original Ellis probably someone of repute?) > > Thanks for any insight! > Sincerley, > Flanagan >

On Wednesday, in article <3c45cd0e_3@news2.prserv.net> graham@NOPSPAMwalter-family.org wrote: > I have uncovered some addresses (from birth & wedding certificates) that > refer to house names in a location. Here are a couple: > > Garon Villa > Penrhiwceiber (Wales - 1901) > > and > > 14 Walcot Villas > Stratton St Margaret (Wiltshire - 1933) > > Finding the towns/villages hasn't been a problem - find the houses (or where > they may have been) is... > > Does anyone have knowledge of a resource or resources that may keep a record > of such things? > The first place to look is the Royal Mail postcode directory (available on-line at <mumble>); this will show if the addresses are still in current use. If not, plan B can be to dig out any street directories (many are held in the Guildhall Library, which I suspect is unfortunately out of your reach) which will often reveal transitions of addresses from names to numbers by checking successive editions starting from the time the address was current. If the addresses are still current, then on on-line resource such as (IIRC) www.streetmaps.co.uk can be used to see their location; for older maps, go to the Ordnance Survey web-site and follow the links to a set of older maps which are available on-line, where as a last resort you can make a visual search for the locations (remembering that these old maps might actually pre-date when the above addresses were built). -- _______ +---------------------------------------------------+ |\\ //| | Charles Ellson: charles@ellson.demon.co.uk | | \\ // | +---------------------------------------------------+ | > < | WARNING: all mail will be bounced from | // \\ | themidden@ellson.demon.co.uk Alba gu brath |//___\\|

On Wed, 16 Jan 2002 18:47:21 -0000, "Graham" <graham@NOPSPAMwalter-family.org> spoke with words of wisdom , : >I have uncovered some addresses (from birth & wedding certificates) that >refer to house names in a location. Here are a couple: > >Garon Villa >Penrhiwceiber (Wales - 1901) > PLACE NAME GRID COUNTY Penrhiwceiber ST0597 Glamorgan got to www.multimaps.co.uk and put ST0597 in --

On Wed, 16 Jan 2002 01:35:29 GMT, "C'est moi" <NOSPAMsherdh@excite.com> wrote: >If I'm filing papers according to surname, would it make more sense to >file a document for a married woman under her married name or maiden >name??? > >I'm leaning towards the married name because that's the one that the >document has on it, but then she's in my genealogy program with her >maiden name (although the married name is quickly discernible). ** As a woman may marry several times, and so have several married surnames, the maiden surname is usually the best option. Indeed, in Scotland a woman has always been known by her maiden surname in rural parishes (baptism record will say of parents "John Brown and his spouse Jane Smith", and even today Scottish gravestones will say "Jane Smith, widow of John Brown", so that makes it easy for you to identify her in other records. All the Scottish certificates give a woman's maiden surname, so again she is identifiable that way from the certificate. In England and other countries, life is not so simple! Gordon. Gordon Johnson's website: <www.kinhelp.co.uk> with genealogical help plus pre-1700 genealogical indexes.

In article <3c45cd0e_3@news2.prserv.net>, Graham <graham@NOPSPAMwalter- family.org> writes >I have uncovered some addresses (from birth & wedding certificates) that >refer to house names in a location. Here are a couple: > >Garon Villa >Penrhiwceiber (Wales - 1901) > >and > >14 Walcot Villas >Stratton St Margaret (Wiltshire - 1933) > >Finding the towns/villages hasn't been a problem - find the houses (or where >they may have been) is... > >Does anyone have knowledge of a resource or resources that may keep a record >of such things? > > This isn't an old problem. It exists today, albeit many idiots filling in forms designed by other idiots in urban centres are unable to comprehend it. In the parish of Ilsington, many of the old roads have no name and there are many houses where the full postal address was Name, Ilsington, Newton Abbot, Devon. The parish is 9 miles across. Yet post was delivered every day. Local postmen simply learned each walk. As did every other local service. There was (and is) no gazetteer which links individual house names to precise position. Not even large scale maps are necessarily useful. There have been at least five places which were properly addressed as The Vicarage, Ilsington. Each time the Church took the name to a new property it required the old property to be renamed with a name having no connection with the Church. When we bought the then Vicarage we renamed it Sandon House. It still appeared on large scale maps as The Vicarage and the new-built Vicarage did not appear at all. As maps were updated the new name was used and a new property appeared. When we sold, the new owners changed the name again. So the maps are out of date again. Finding out this kind of detail would require either or both of local knowledge and painstaking detailed searching of maps of different ages. Is it worth the bother? In even more remote areas there may not only be no road name but there may be real confusion to outsiders as between the name of an area and the name of a property. A case in point is Loganasgeir, beside Loch Rannoch. It makes sense to some people to talk of hunting deer at Loganasgeir. But I would not expect them to be chasing a fawn round the parlour. Loganasgeir is actually the name of a single building (which was divided into two living units for sisters Janet and Mary in later days). But it is the only building for miles so it does make a kind of sense to talk about hunting at Loganasgeir even if the ghillie takes you a mile or three into the hills behind it. For such isolated properties, a reasonably accurate fix can be obtained even from the old 1 inch to 1 mile OS maps, if you know roughly where to look. But again that helps only if you have the right name for the right age of map. Time will come when every property has as part of its details a grid reference to whatever precision is deemed to be necessary. Well meaning people have come round some areas with 8-digit references which they commend sticking on the telephone for quoting to emergency services trying to locate by GPS systems in-vehicle. I know of no person hereabouts who actually has the number on their telephone. And it certainly is not in house deeds. Even if the system worked, it is an admission that finding precise location from no more than the name of a property cannot be done without local knowledge and regardless of how much money is available. There is no nationwide gazetteer for individual properties. The questions are really for yourself. How precise do you want to get? How important is it to you? Given the amount of work, without guarantee of success because of name changes, is it worth the bother? There is a painting which always worried me because it appeared to show a silver birch trunk dividing into two trunks in part of the foreground. The picture was of Schiehallion seen across Loch Rannoch. When I asked about the biological oddity my (electrical engineer) uncle said he had not noticed it. But he had got the painting from Aunt Mary, who had taken it in part payment of board and lodging for an artist. The next time I was up in Loganasgeir I saw no strange silver birch as I drove along the road. So I started from the door and looked around for a close-by pitch for an artist's easel. Went there, moved about by small steps, and finally found - within inches - where the artist must have stood to paint. There was just one place where two silver birches in line leant in slightly different directions and gave the illusion of a single, bifurcated, tree. I still don't know whether the artist had a simple literal mind and painted exactly what, by chance, he saw. Or whether he looked hard for the opportunity to put a biological 'error' in what was supposed to be an accurate painting. This piece of research contributed nothing to my own genealogy, but it removed an unexplained oddity. I find such things worrying until resolved. The effort was worth it to me, that time. Don '- - ' HYPERPEOPLE: the multinational invisible college of experienced professionals working in one-task multidisciplinary syndicates at and from their homes. Tel: +44(0) 1626 821725 Fax: +44(0) 1626 824912 Ashwood, Exeter Cross, Liverton, Newton Abbot, England TQ12 6EY

> I am looking for the Enumeration District in Philadelphia for Brown & 27th > Streets, and so far I have had no luck finding it... how do I find what ward > it is in? is there a website which shows the wards or districts? The text descriptions of the EDs are online at http://www.ancestry.com and can be searched at no cost. Follow the links to Census Images, Census Year that you want, State, County, township and you can scan through the descriptions for the ED that you want. -- -- Brian Stern <brians99@earthlink.net>

Good thinking! I was searching for a document relating to my mom, who had been married twice. Couldn't find the copy anywhere so I ended up going to the safe deposit box for the original. I *know* I kept a copy before I stored the original. And I always write "copy" on the papers that are copies. I think that I'll either make a cross reference sheet for each family file or make copies for filing under whatever names appear on the document. However, some of the documents are multiple pages and that micron thickness adds up quickly! Maybe just a copy of the first page with a notation where the whole document can be found. Sherry Singhals <singhals@erols.com> wrote in news:3C459B63.42A8EE25@erols.com: > Yes, this is the simplest. > > For one thing, if you file it under the maiden name, sooner or > later you're going to stumble across it while you're looking for > something else and say "what's this doing in here?" and move it. > (g) If you file it under the married name, then sooner or later, > you're going to be collating all the papers for the P!tty-P4t > family and the one who married the QT family is going to be > missing, and you'll have to go on a hunt for her. And on the > third hand, a piece of paper takes up x-onehundredths of an inch, > no matter what's on it, so you may as well file a copy as a > cross-reference. > > Cheryl > > Elizabeth Wilson wrote: >> >> I make copies and file under both

A name change due to marriage is something completely different than the types of name changes we're talking about. On 16 Jan 2002, LPurch6636 wrote: >When I lived in California in the seventies I had my last name "legally" >changed to reflect both my maiden and married name with a hyphen in between as >the *entire* surname. All I had to do was change all of my important documents >to reflect this new name and to start using this new name consistently. I did >not go to a lawyer- I just "read up" on it. > >As an addendum for those who want to "connect" their married and maiden name: I >found in the long run that this was not worth it! Some people were highly >offended that I did this so that when I went to a new insurance agent, for >example, the man took it as a personal offense to HIM! He was furious at my >name! When I tried to sign up to teach a college class, a woman in >Administration refused to believe that I could do this and would only write my >last name down as ONE name- so "pick which one." My brother did the same >thing and he has a child who is abhorred that her last name is so "funny." When >she is of age, I am certain that she will change her name back to my brother's >suname! And what if she didn't? When she married, her last name would be >Smith-Jones-Farrell (sort of like an attorney's office!) And what if she >married a man whose parents had the same idea? So the newlyweds last name would >be: Smith-Jones-Garcia-Farrell!!