Registered under MMN

[Sue from Southend]

My OH's grandfather was registered under his MMN in 1887. She went on to marry his father and he was always known by his fathers name. He served in WW1 under his fathers name and got married etc. Could he have gone through life without showing his birth cert or should I be looking for an official name change? If so where do I look??

[KiteRunner]

Sue, his birth should have been reregistered when his parents got married. Have you checked the GRO birth indexes for the quarter when he was born to see if there is a handwritten entry for him added at the bottom of the page under his father's surname, which would tell you when the reregistration took place? If there is no such entry then they didn't actually reregister him, but in any case, there would be nothing to stop him using whatever surname he liked without an "official" change of name. Of course, it is possible that his name was changed by deed poll, but I would think unlikely.

[Sue from Southend]

Thanks Kite Runner- I've just checked and there's no handwritten reregistration. Does that mean we've all been using the wrong surname for the last 120 years lol

[Olde Crone Holden]

Sue

In law, there is no such thing as a "legal surname". You can use whatever surname you like, change it as often as you like as long as you are not doing this for fraudulent purposes. Your name is what you answer to when called.

In fact, early birth certs did not give a surname for a child - the surname was inferred from the father's surname, or from the mother's if no father's name was given.

Of course in this day and age it would be viewed with suspicion if your surname did not match that on your birth cert, but this is a very recent thing.

As his parents married anyway, in your case there is no problem at all.

OC

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

In fact, early birth certs did not give a surname for a child - the surname was inferred from the father's surname, or from the mother's if no father's name was given.

Oooooooh!! EARLY birth certs??? :( My birth cert is one of those!!!

[Olde Crone Holden]

I should have said "earlier" birth certs - I cannot remember when they included a column for child's surname!

OC

[Sue from Southend]

Phew, thats a relief OC! I don't think OH would like the alternative name - there's far too many of 'em around;)