Hi, I had the same problem with the Davis name. One of my husband's ancestors we were told had first name David- it was actually Davis, and he went by Dave.(He was Davis Tutt that was killed by Wild Bill Hickok.) I have Lafayette William Reed's in my family. The elder went by Lafayette, his son went by William or Bill. I'm also finding that several of the Reed's went by their middle names, and I'm having problems finding them by their first names on records. Barb Jensen