Should I name women according to their maiden name or married name?

[ctb]

I'm new to this and wondering what is the practice for entering the surnames of women: by their maiden name or married name.
My instinct is to use their maiden name as that should help searches UP the line. On the other hand, if I use their married names, it would help searches DOWN the line...
Can anyone advise please?
Many thanks!

[Janice Lane]

I name women by maiden name that's their family line. I think ancestry automatically adds married name in hints and when you search

[Macbev]

I routinely enter married women under their maiden names....it is a great help when you have a run of 'John SMITHs' in a line to differentiate them according to whether one was married to a 'Martha BLOGGS' or a 'Priscilla BROWN'

[Anne in Carlisle]

Yes it is the usual convention to keep the woman's maiden name. Some people add the married name in brackets but it gets complicated if there is more than one marriage. You need to get used to discipline yourself to look for her death or further marriage with the 'current' name. I've wasted more than a bit of time by accidentally searching for the wrong name!
Anne

[Caroline]

Yes it is the usual convention to keep the woman's maiden name. Some people add the married name in brackets but it gets complicated if there is more than one marriage. You need to get used to discipline yourself to look for her death or further marriage with the 'current' name. I've wasted more than a bit of time by accidentally searching for the wrong name!
Anne

I put the married name in square brackets .i.e. Mary [Smith] until I know the maiden name. I used to leave it blank then I changed to putting Mary Unknown or Mary [Unknown] but once I got further back it was hard (impossible!!) to differentiate all the Mary Unknowns!!

[PeteW1959]

I put the married name in square brackets .i.e. Mary [Smith] until I know the maiden name. I used to leave it blank then I changed to putting Mary Unknown or Mary [Unknown] but once I got further back it was hard (impossible!!) to differentiate all the Mary Unknowns!!

I do this as well. It has the added bonus of putting them all at the top of an alphabetical list, reminding me I need still need to do a bit more research on them!

[Caroline]

I do this as well. It has the added bonus of putting them all at the top of an alphabetical list, reminding me I need still need to do a bit more research on them!

I forgot to add that - that was why I added the brackets.

[ctb]

Thank you!

[ctb]

Great thank you! And yes, and awful lot of Lewis Bells in my ancestry, making research quite complex! :-)

[ctb]

Thank you, good advice, much appreciated!

[ctb]

Thank you. And good point about having a system for knowing where you still need to do research.

[Darksecretz]

I always add the 'wife' with her maiden name [if i know it, if not then she goes under her married name until I discover her MN]

[Chris in Sussex]

Unknown (married surname) Ann.... for FTM

Works for me. However if you get into the realms of 'Ann' having other surnames it can get a little confusing

Chris