Mary, that was an interesting question about children not yet having a name. When I search US records I sometimes find "male" or "female" with no first name, but come to think of it, when I look at filmed RC records in Ireland, I have never seen that. This raises a question that has no answer. If the parents did not yet have a name for the child, and since a child was supposed to have the name of a saint, did the priest name a child? Did he name children Mary or use one of his favorite saint's names? Did he tell the father he HAD to choose a name? Very often the Baptismal date is actually closer to the correct date of birth. I VERYoften find (after 1864) that children were baptized several days or even a month or two BEFORE they were born. This simply means the father was not able to register the birth right away and so changed the date of birth so he would not have to pay a fine (as I understand it). This also indicates, there seemed to regularly be a name for a child that was close to the date of birth. I am concentrating on Co. Cork with some research in Co. Limerick, Co. Tipperary, and Co. Offaly. There might be parishes in other counties where no name was given to the child at Baptism. Also, most of my searches are in Roman Catholic parishes. In one of my extended families, there was a Gertrude. I could never find her birth record. Come to find out, at the Baptismal ceremony (mothers were not allowed to be there in early years), the godmother really liked the name Stella so she gave that name to the priest. So the birth was also registered under Stella, but the child NEVER went by that name. In the case of my dad, his father wanted to call him John, but his mother said there were too many in the family with that name. She wanted him named Edward. She wasn't at the Baptism so my dad was named John Edward. However, it was my grandmother who was home with him every day and she always called him Edward so officially he was always J. Edward. Jan