Dear Listers, For the past three days I have been working with old (ancient? - 1220 to 600) Welsh ancestral records. Following is a representative sample of given names: Payn, Madog, Rhys, Meurig, Gwrgan, Ithel, Cynfyn, Idwallon, Angherad, Mareduold, Lleuca, Enflew, Hywel, Nest, Rhodri, Merfyn, etc. They are a combination of male and female names. Can anybody correctly identify the gender of each? I doubt it, unless you specialize in the period of time and the Gaelic language. Fortunately for me, the gender is identified in the records I'm researching. The point of this? If your birth certificate is incorrect, 800 to 1700 years from now people researching their ancestry may have a similar problem with the popular given names of today. They may not be able to determine if it is a given name, a surname, or it's gender. A CORRECT vital record (in this case a birth certificate) would certainly be of great assistance here, wouldn't it? If yours is incorrect you have the singular distinction of being able to correct the historical record! I have a sister whose middle name is Gene. When she was born Mother insisted that it be spelled that way. The nurse who recorded the name and prepared the request for creation of a birth certificate apparently thought that it should be spelled Jean -- after all she was a girl. Later in life this became an important personal matter to my sister. Nancy Gene went through a lot of effort to have her name changed to reflect the desire of our deceased mother. I believe that she had to engage an attorney and petition the courts for a legal change of name. Think about it! Dick McCracken Towanda, PA -- Plan Your Work... Work Your Plan...