<snip> It's entirely likely that my grandmother is not remembering the name correctly (seems more likely than an error on the census taker's part) <snip> Unless: 1. The census taker heard something like "Emma Leigh" and merely recorded the first name. 2. Her name really was Emily, her family called her Emma, and that was what was told the census taker. 3. The census taker was told Emily but incorrectly wrote down Emma. 4. Any of a number of other possible theories, none of which make too terribly much difference today. If all the other information matches up, chances are it *is* the right record. Just make a record of the slight difference in name in your notes. Then, as you find more primary sources with her name, you can make an educated opinion as to what her name 'really' is. -- Barb Orange County, Indiana, Marriage Record Index: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~woodhousegenealogy/ <mark@kinweb.org> wrote in message news:1010865101.422459@news.islandnet.com... > Edith Gomez <edithkbg@home.com> wrote: > > Emma could be her real name, I have a Grand Aunt named Emma Sheppard at > > birth, can't remember her married name at present. Emma could also be short > > for EMMALINE. > > > > Edith > > Thanks folks, > > The thing is that my grandmother (now 89) recalls her grandmother's name > as "Emily". > > But an 1881 UK census record matches the family perfectly (father's name, > wife's maiden name, four children with the right names, right town, right > dates, etc.) but the wife is listed as "Emma" instead of Emily. > > I believe this is the right census record (too many other points match up > for it *not* to be). It's entirely likely that my grandmother is not > remembering the name correctly (seems more likely than an error on the > census taker's part), or it could be that one name is/was a variation of > the other at the time. > > Mark > > -- > Mark Morley, British Columbia, Canada mark@kinweb.org > > Researching: MORLEY, SANDERSON, GREGORY, STOCKMAN, FRANCIS, LOCKHART, DENYER > CAVE, STEPHENSON, WUERCH, WIESE, ... and hundreds more ...