Thanks for the definitions - I understand that she had two last names at different times. I was trying to figure out which one would be the maiden name, so I'm sorry my question wasn't more clear. If anyone else has used Catholic church records and found death records for their families, more specifically married women, what in general was the way it was presented? Married name first? Maiden name the alias? In this case, I have only found Kilkennys in Gubbs, not Cookes, so I was thinking that Brigid Cooke married a Kilkenny. But I have no marriage record, so cannot prove it one way or the other. Later generations of Cookes had plenty of Kilkennys acting as godparents, and vice versa, so I figured they were first or second cousins, through Brigid. Thank you! Susan On 7/21/06, Susan Daily <cullivans@gmail.com> wrote: > If a Catholic church record states the following: > > 9 May 1858 obiit Brigida Cooke alias Kilkenny in anno sua aetatis 49. Gubs. > > Does that mean it is likely the woman who died was born with the name > Brigid Cooke and married a Kilkenny, or is it the other way around? > (I've been taking it to mean the former.) > > Thank you, > Susan >