And then, of course, there is my family who seem to change their names at will to things seemingly unrelated to their original names, tho there must be a good reason in their minds. Go figure! In a message dated 4/1/2006, [email protected] writes: there are several reasons why one would change their name. they owed debts they couldn't pay so changed to another family name, there was a death in the family and all children were given to another family and their names were changed to that last name, feud took place among family so they disowned each other and changed their name. there were cases where an adoption took place when the eldest mentioned may have lost parents then he found out later what his real name was and took that name on. who knows? From: Cindy Kimes [email protected] ~ Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 17:13:42 -0800 (PST) An old query from Mar 1997 states: >Alfred KIME-RYAN: A real mystery family! We have a Bible record showing the names, birth, marriage records of the Kime family who lived in Vernon Co MO at the beginning of the Civil War. Alfred KIME(s) married 12 Aug 1858 in Vernon Co MO to Leanner (Leanora), dau of William BETHELL and Margaret BRUCE. For some unknown reason, the entire family started using the name of RYAN between 1860/1870, and this name continued even through their relocation to Indian Territory in 1892 and deaths in Oklahoma. Does anyone know any possible reason for this change of names?