I'm in a bit of a quandary of what records of parents' names to 'believe' - For instance, the marriage cert of my g-grandparents gives the bride's father as James. The original parish records entry of her birth, however, gives his name as John. In another example, the parish records of a marriage give the groom's father as David, whereas a few years later the groom's death cert says his father, John, was present at the death. Should I go for the parent's name stated on the official certificate, or the parish records? The only reason I can think of for this discrepancy in names is that one is the proper name of the parent and the other is the name he or she preferred to be known by - but surely in an official record the proper name, not a nickname, would be recorded - I'd appreciate any comments on this, and any advice on which name to 'go for'. Thanks Valerie