Genealogy Forum UK

Was it an acceptable practice and how common was it for people to stop using thier given first name and start using a middle name when in adult life?

Only I have a couple of examples which would solve some problems, but I am cautious about jumping to this conclusion.

First one is easy, Basically my Grandfather was always hanging around with his Cousin John, I quickly found there were no cousins called John, however there was a cousin who lived nearby called Cecil John, so maybe as a young man he thought Cecil was not a manly name, so used John?

THe second case I have is more intriguing and frustrating, especially as the people involved are being hard to pin down. William James HEATH in 1881 census is living in London, with a 16 year old girl, Florence Smith, who is listed as sister-in-law. Cut long story short, this has to be his wife's sister, so, yay hes married... but wheres the wife? Maybe she turned up living with his Sister, as the census return for his sister and her husband list an Elizabeth Heath as being Sister-in-law, with her baby Alice. Again I have eliminated the In Law connection with any of the other siblings.

Now having found Florence living with her family, in 1871 census, there is no Elizabeth, but going back to 1861 There is a child, Mary Elizabeth identical age and place of birth as the Elizabeth who has turned up in 1881 at her inlaws. Then there is a marriage entry, I have yet to obtain the certificate, listing Mary Elizabeth SMITH on same page as a William James HEATH,

I have gone through extensive census searches to eliminate that I have the wrong Florence SMITH and family, so I am extremly confident that MAry Elizabeth is actully William's wife and is now using her middle name. Is this a correct conclusion? Problem is I can not find any of these people in any other later census, so I assume emigrated, but no records from the passenget lists. I will try that again some point.

Thoughts please, Thank you!

Not at all unusual Andrew. My granddad was always George, but when he died we discovered he was Albert George, even his own children didn't know. My grandma was Elizabeth Ann but was always known as Annie or Nancy and that wasn't her decision because she is only two years old on the 1901 census, and she is aclled Annie there. My sister has always gone by her middle name, in fact hardly anyone knows her first name. I have many ancestors who have gone through life using their middle or a "pet" name. Only yesterday I was searching for someone called Effie, who turned out to be Ethel.

My husband is Malcolm Ian, but has always been known as Ian. His late father was Albert Michael, always known as Michael because his own father was Albert. But when I asked my late mother-in -law why Ian was always known by his second name, despite no-one else in the family having the name Malcolm, she said she had no idea!!

My Dad does by his middle name too, as he has the same name as his father. I've come across it several times in our family, and not always because there is another family member with the same name. My cousin uses her middle name because she prefers it, but there may be other reasons.

My sister never uses her first name - she hated it, no-one knows what it is and she has threatened me never to divulge it OR ESLE!!!

Oh Excellent! Just from your wonderful replies I can be a lot more confident now in my theories. I am going to order a marriage certificate, i had hoped the Pancras certificates were all on-line, but apparently the one I am after is not showing up anywhere, so hopefully this is the breakthrough I need,

Our Ancestors all had nick names Andrew, some of them were very descriptive. One family I read about from Lye Worcs were so under nourished they couldn't stand, they went about their day on 'all fours' and were knows as 'the all fours!'

Linell.

My step-father was universally known by his middle name until recently when he's started using his first name, I suspect it's something to do with his new wife.

SRD wrote:My step-father was universally known by his middle name until recently when he's started using his first name, I suspect it's something to do with his new wife.

If I'm out with my Dad, and have to call after him, "Dad" doesn't usually cut it - too many of them! So I'll try his middle name, as that's what the family call him. If that doesn't work I'll go for his first name, which he used at work! You'd think he'd be schizo!
My Mum told a tale of her and Dad going out for a meal with one of my Dad's collegues and his wife. He was like my Dad, and used his first name at work, and middle name at home. The waiters must have been confused, because it seemed that there were two women and four men present at a table for four - but I don't think the waiters were the only ones confused - the wives thourght it pretty confusing too!!

snoopysue wrote: but I don't think the waiters were the only ones confused - the wives thourght it pretty confusing too!!

If its confusing for those people, then I think its safe it say it will be extremely confusing for a researcher looking through historical documents! So yes, this is all good stuff and has given me peace of mind. Thanks.

Were you right?
My Mum and Dad both went under middle name, and for a while they also used my middle name. I cant remember that
I do have lots of family using middle name though.
Jo

I beleive that I am correct, if you follow my thread in BrickWall catagory, on William James HEATH, then yes, it has become clear that the Elizabeth in question is indeed using her middle name, being born Mary Elizabeth (SMITH). I am also 100% confident that "cousin John" which my grandfather hung around with, is also using his middle name. I guess a young lad growing up in a manly world in the 30s did not want to be called Cecil

My dad is a Frederick John. His father was a Fredrick Horace. His Grandfather was a Frederick and lots of his 1st cousins are Frederick.

During a family get together if somebody said "Frederick" there would be multiple replies.

If you were chatting with somebody about Frederick Dodd it could take a while to be sure you wer both talking about the same one!

So my father started using his middle name, John, and that is all I have ever heard him called.

It took a while to find my grandfather's war records because he signed up as Horace F. Dodd instead of Frederick H. Dodd.

All other records he is Frederick so ther must have been a reason at the time of enlistment he used his middle name.

So I think it was common to use the middle name to prevent confusion if your family had the habit of naming their first born after the father or grandfather.