Hi there wondered if anyone can help me. My grandmother was born Dorothea Lunn and on all census following remained known as such. However on her marriage details in 1903 and her death she was known as Wilhelmina C.R.D. Lunn. I know people used to take names of family but having gone way back I can find neither reason or rhyme for this. Is there anywhere I might be able to find what the initials stand for. Obviously the D. will be Dorothea but the others remain a mystery. Hope someone can help. Maureen

On 21/03/2010 18:55, maureen wrote: > Hi there wondered if anyone can help me. My grandmother was born Dorothea > Lunn and on all census following remained known as such. However on > her marriage details in 1903 and her death she was known as Wilhelmina > C.R.D. Lunn. > > I know people used to take names of family but having gone way back I can > find neither reason or rhyme for this. Is there anywhere I might be able > to find what the initials stand for. Obviously the D. will be Dorothea > but the others remain a mystery. I think we need considerably more detail here. You have all the records and can't figure where the names come from - so how can we hope to do so without even having that info? When and where was she born? Who were her parents? Where and to whom did she marry? When and where did she die? If you have found census returns, what are the references? Oh, and have you found a baptism record? Some parents add to or change a birth name when they christen the child - indeed some denominations add saints names at that time. Of course there may be no reason or rhyme to the additional names other than personal (or parental) whim. In the UK people were and are free to change or modify their names whenever they wish and for any (or no) reason. Many have done so. There are no required formalities - a "deed poll" is optional - all one has to do is make it known that from now on you are called, say, Fred Bloggs, and that's it. In modern times it can, of course, cause difficulties with banks and officialdom in general, but in granny's day there were no such problems. Going back to your query - just to throw a spanner in the works, are you absolutely certain that the pre-1903 birth and census records you've found for Dorothea do in fact relate to the same lady as the marriage and death records for Wilhelmina C.R.D Lunn? I ask because she appears on the 1911 census as "Dora Bowery" (I think she married Edward Bowery in 1903 - am I right?) so the "D" appears to be "Dora", not "Dorothea". Though I suppose that the former could be a contraction of the latter. Anyway - can we please have the additional info and perhaps somebody will have a brainwave. Brian -- Brian Pears (Gateshead, UK) http://www.bpears.org.uk/ Joint List Admin NORTHUMBRIA Genealogy Mailing List GENUKI Northumberland Maintainer