Hello to all! I have only briefly scanned this Naming Thing, though I will look at it in more detail later. But I thought it would be an appropriate place for this anticdote told to me by my Grandmother. Evidently, back in the days when people had such huge families they ran out of ideas for names. My granny had a cousin who was born at home. When the doctor asked her name, the parents said they hadn't decided yet. Well the doctor picked the name "Mary" and put it on her birth certificate. In the meantime, the parents decided that "Estelle" was a pretty name and she was known by that. It was only when she went to draw her social security, that she found out her birth certificate was listed in a different name. Imagine her surprise. In another instance, a baby boy was born. The harried father was asked what the name should be and the only name he could think of was the name of the then current president, Calvin Coolidge. Fortunatelyl, Calvin lived to be a very old man. <VBG> It was evidently not unheard of for doctors to just put any old name on the certificate. So it could be necessary in some cases to look for the names of the parents and the correct birthdate. Marsha