Hi Jeanne It can be frustrating! I have an ancestor John Weir (b1778, West Lothian) married to a Elisabeth (Betty, Bethea) Forrest (c1777, Lanarkshire). Elisabeth had 6 children baptised with her name recorded as Betty. Census records shows that she had at least one other child. After cross-referencing birth/baptism records, death records, marriage records and census records and looking for alternative parents I concluded that three children baptised to a Mary Forrest were actually the children of Elisabeth Forrest. Mary Forrest was not an uncommon name in the area. Did someone just get the name wrong on the baptism record (three times!) or was Mary a local usage for Elisabeth/Betty? Or have I just got it wrong? Good luck Ian -----Original Message----- From: lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:lanark-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of TwoSides22@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, 18 August 2010 1:34 AM To: lanark@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [Lanark] Marriage Banns Thanks Ken and Archie. It's interesting to know how they morphed Agnes into Ann, and that it wasn't done just to confuse me 150 years later. There isn't even a chance the same was done for Elisabeth and Marrion but I'm hoping I'll find it was the same person who chose to use a middle name at some point. I'm trying to resist grinding it to fit even though it sometimes works with crossword puzzles. ;-) Jeanne