In a message dated 10/18/2002 8:30:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: > but the > 'Mother's maiden name" question which refers to the present mother, was > answered giving the baby's grandmother's maiden name. Perhaps the young > mother misunderstood the question. > I recently received a death certificate for a 5month old baby who died in NYC in 1892. The father registered the death just two days after it occured. In completing the form he correctly entered his name as the father but then entered his own mother's name instead of his wife's on the line which asked for the mother's name! In this case I already knew the maiden names of both women and the relationships but it certainly would have misled me had that not been the case. It was not a literacy issue that caused this error, possibly the father was distracted by his grief at the very recent loss of his baby son, it somehow made him very "real " to me. GMMcC NJ