Which name is correct?

[ozgirl]

Checking on the BMD reg, one of my gg aunts is listed as Rebekah for her birth,
but with her marriage and death she is listed as Rebecca. Which would be the officially correct one - I realise that her parents probably just told her name to the registrar, who then put it down as he felt fit, but would the first registration take precedence?

Thanks

Linda

[Little Nell]

There is no officially correct. She may have been recorded as Rebekah because that's how her parents told the registrar she spelt her name, or the registrar may have just recorded it that way.

At her wedding she would have given her name and may have been spelt the more usual way - or she may have chosen that way.

At her death, presumably whoever registered the death knew her as Rebecca.

All 3 ways are "official" as that is how they appear in the indexes.

Its very common for names to be altered a lot. My gt x 2 grandfather wrote "Emits" on his marriage cert, but it was "Emmets" on his death cert and his grandson was "Thomas Emmetts or Thomas Emmett" on documents.

I also have a chap in the family who was registered at birth as Octavius but became Octavian on censuses and later certs.

[Kate P]

In some ways I don't think it matters - the names sound identical when spoken, and unless there's other evidence to suggest that your GGG grandparents particularly wanted it spelt a certain way I'd go with whatever you feel comfortable, but do note in your research records all the different spellings you come across and their various sources. How does she appear on the various censuses and death record, if you have them?

[ozgirl]

Thanks for your opinions - she is Rebecca on everything except the birth register, where she is Rebekah. I'll just make a note of the "Rebekah" one but keep her as Rebecca everywhere.

Thanks again

Linda

[Oakum Picker]

My mother was named 'Rita' & for a reason known only to himself the registrar wrote 'Reita' & that was what she married & was buried under. She also used that spelling as her signature, probably thinking she had to or perhaps adopting it as something slightly more unusual. However I noticed recently on Schools' Admission Registers that she was entered as Rita, although she would have written her name the other way. I remember her telling me that she was always being rapped across the knuckles with a ruler for writing left-handed but i don't remember her saying anything about a punishment for writing her name 'wrong'. LOL

[ozgirl]

I'm doing a lot of double checking on names at the moment. My gf was always known as Harry, but was registered as Henry, which was the name he used for official forms. However we have just found out that Henry was his older brother who died 9 months before he was born. Not only did he use Henry's name but he also used his d.o.b, and that is even on his gravestone!

Linda

[kylejustin]

a lot of people were known by nick names. i always knew my great grandfather was called jack, but was john henry. when i got in touch with his cousins' descendant's, they told me his father was called harry, but was thomas henry. all thomas' siblings were the same. it was a real headache, because my aunt only remembered the nicknames and nothing else. so you could probably make a note in the tree, or just say "john (jack) henry smith" when you enter it in the tree.