"IMO the best thing to do is to record everyone with their birth name. If people get married and change their name, then that should properly be recorded as an Alternate Name."
I couldn't agree more. Especially the part about A-N-D CHANGE THEIR NAME. It seems to me that we frequently jump to the conclusion that every woman who marries immediately uses her first name together with her husband's surname as her "new" name. That may be the most common occurence, but it is certainly not universal. Keeping her maiden name in her record, along with linking to her husband(s) is sufficient to leave clues as to what names she MIGHT have used. But unless we have evidence that she actually DID use something other than her birth name, we really shouldn't record it. I guess I should clarify that to "name that she used INTENTIONALLY". We are likely to find some documents that were created by someone else making the same ASSUMPTION that she had changed to her husband(s)' surname(s). I'm as guilty as anyone of sometimes jumping to conclusions, but others on this list keep reminding us that we should only record KNOWN FACTS. Bob -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of John R. Bayle Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2004 20:51 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [LegacyUG]Maiden Name? Wendy wrote: > Dear Jack, > If you did a basic genealogy course, the first thing you would be taught > would be to record each individual under their BIRTH name. Legacy > allows enormous flexibility but your method would be extremely confusing > to other genealogists. > Regards, > Wendy Baker > Victoria Australia > Accredited Genealogist ICAPGen. Thank you Wendy! It's good to see someone with some stated genealogical credentials weigh in on this one. Just to further indicate standard genealogical practice, on page 48 of Val Greenwood's book "Researchers Guide to American Genealogy" he has a pedigree showing the women all by their maiden names. I cannnot find where he explicitly says how things should be recorded. He seems to take that for granted, and spends most of his time discussing how to find information. Also in Croom's book "Unpuzzling your Past" she has examples of filled out Ahentafels showing only Maiden (birth) names. On the other hand she has a worked out example of a research sheet, which was used on a reseach trip showing all of a woman's various married names as well as her birth name. IMO the best thing to do is to record everyone with their birth name. If people get married and change their name, then that should properly be recorded as an Alternate Name. I don't record all the resulting Alternate Names (due merely to marriages) in my files because it just seems terribly redundant to me. I do record spelling variations and acutal name changes however. jr 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 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
