Recent discussion of how to record names prompts me to ask about the prefix and suffix fields. As I understand it the prefix is intended for titles such as "Revd", "Dr" etc, with degrees, honours etc to follow in the suffix field.
However, the majority of these are bestowed on adults, and while it may be true that John Smith the 3 year-old later became the Revd Dr John Smith, MA, PhD, OBE (I'm writing from a British context here), it is surely misleading to use the prefix and suffix in anything that refers to him before he was given those titles etc. For this reason I have chosen not to use the prefix and suffix fields, and deal with such matters with events and/or notes, which are likely to be needed anyway to explain the circumstances in which the titles and honours were granted. I suppose this is really part of a bigger question of how to handle the fact that names and titles do change over time, and it's therefore related to things like farm names and women who change their name at marriage. Would it help to have some kind of time indicator in the AKA field? I'd be interested to know how others feel about this. Arthur Kennedy Legacy User Group Etiquette guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
