Here is an offline question I received. The answer may be useful to someone else. Q: My husband's church records from Slovakia list "alias" names for his grandparents. Do you have any idea why these people would have alias names? What does this mean? A: What you refer to tantamount to a nickname. Many people had the same name, who could be cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. Here's a real, live example: My GM was born Maria Dzuba, married Peter Tarkulic, became Maria Tarkulic. When I visited I met a Maria Tarkulic who married a Gyorgy Dzuba and became Maria Dzuba. In many villages, the choices of given names were pre-defined - named after your father, grandfather, father-inlaw, for many women in NE Slovakia it was Maria, Helena, Suzanna, Julia, and so on. So you can see, it's easy for many people in one village to have the same name. A nickname doesn't necessarily have to have meaning, it might just be something catchy. It could be "The fisherman", or "muckluck" or "Zboj Petro." Each nickname has its own unique reasons for creation, just as we have "private jokes", the reason may be never know. It's fairly infrequent that you find nicknames in "official" documents, such as census or church ledgers. ______________ Bill Tarkulich Andover Business Solutions 12 Hathaway Road Lexington, MA 02420-1806 (781) 862-7575 bill@iabsi.com