> > F'instance, woman still living says her name is Axxxx middlename; her > > marriage record gives her as Ayyyy differentmiddlename. Good thing her > > husband had a HIGHLY recognizable name or I'd never have found them! > > > > Cheryl Singhals <singhals@erols.com> > > A year ago, I met a first cousin once removed, who had original > family group sheets handwritten by my great-grandmother. He knew > their provenance, and I recognised my great-grandmother's > distinctive writing. The documents confirmed much of what I've > researched back to my gg-grandparents. However, my mother's middle > name was "wrong", which made me skeptical of everything else my > g-grandmother had written. When I asked her, my mother told me that > she'd been born at home in a rural area, and no birth certificate > was created. During WW II, Mom needed a copy of her birth > certificate to enlist in the WAC, and the doctor who'd delivered her > created a delayed birth certificate. I have seen this birth > certificate, and it has the appearance of a regular, and not a > delayed certificate. The doctor asked my mother for her given > names, however Mom had never used her middle name and wasn't sure > what it was. She knew what she'd like it to be, and decided this > was her golden opportunity to get that name. Maybe your woman did > the same :) > > "Cheryl Freeman" <cheryl@genattic.com> On the subject of middle names---you just never know. My mother's name at birth was Rebecca Dunn Borton. She was named for a same-name aunt who, in turn, had been named for her grandmother: Rebecca (Dunn) Robinson. When mom was little everyone called her Becky and she grew to hate the name. She told her mother that she hated the name Rebecca because of being called Becky and hated her middle name because it wasn't a name she could USE in place of the first name/nickname she hated. Her mother told her, please don't change your name until Aunt Rebecca is gone because you were named for her and it is an honor...but after she is gone, if you still want to change your name just pick a middle name you like and go by that name. So that is what my mother did...after her Aunt Rebecca died she adopted unofficially the middle name of Helen (picked out of the clear blue sky as far as I know--just a name she LIKED). From that point on she became R. Helen Borton until she married and became Helen Myers. Had I not heard this story (explanation) directly from my mother--I'd never have figured this all out as a genealogist doing research in the future. Joan JYoung6180@aol.com