Maiden Names
A maiden name was often indicated by the words "née" or "born as." A maiden name may also have been written in parentheses.
If a name has "formerly" associated with it, I believe that does NOT qualify it as a Maiden name (per PI copied above) and should be indexed with an OR . Is that correct?
As Always, thanks for your instruction!!
Answers
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"Formerly" is treated the same as a maiden name unless the "formerly" name can be determined as a variation of the last name; I.e. Beverly Smythe, formally Beverly Smyth.
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:( Dang!! I hate it when I've indexed wrong!
Thanks for setting me straight
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We need to give these ladies the benefit of the doubt, the current surname could be a first, second or even 3rd marriage. We should not assume or determine, leave that to the researcher. Just sayin'.
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I agree that 'formerly' doesn't necessarily mean born as. Could be a previous marriage or she had a name change.
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I just had one where there were 4 possible surnames and the indexer had tried to sort it out, incorrectly as it turns out. In another one the indexer incorrectly assumed a Norwegian given name to be a surname. Hopefully my corrections on review will be accepted by the next person to see the record.
The FS PI cause these erroneous entries by not allowing for divorce or death of a spouse or, as barbaragailsmith1 correctly states, a simple name change for whatever reason.
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Context is everything - and I don't know the context here. But it may be useful for me to point out that some documents will be subject to mandatory rules about the use of terms like "formerly". In the English & Welsh registration system, "formerly" refers to a woman's maiden name - which is not necessarily her birth name, but is her surname immediately before her first marriage.
"Late" is used to record previous married names and "Otherwise" refers to some sort of alias.
I suspect, but don't promise, that similar terminology will be found throughout registration systems inspired by England and Wales.
Finding out the official terminology for any particular case probably isn't easy but I suspect that it probably won't be up to the individual form filler.
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Also do look at the PI for EACH and EVERY project. Some projects don't say to use OR in the Given Name field. So please do read the PI for each individual project since that is where Reviewing some projects are more of a pain due to folks not reading the PI!
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"Or" is used with every name that has a variant (or two, etc). From Project Instructions/General Indexing Guidelines/Alias Names:
If alias names were included on a document, or if an individual's name was listed with various spellings on the document, include all variants, separating each with the word Or. For example, if a name was written as "Georgios (George), George Broski, George Browzowski, or George Brzozowski," index the name fields as follows:- Given Name: Georgios Or George
Surname: Broski Or Browzowski Or Brzozowski
0 - Given Name: Georgios Or George
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Not for New York Naturalization, Eastern District project!
Example for Naturlization page 1 shows NO "Or" between the 2 last surnames. In addition, in NONE of the PI instructions does it state to use OR for the surname. But OR is okay for the given name field.
Again EACH project is DIFFERENT. This is how projects get messed up by people assuming it is OK to do since another project allowed for it.
I have been doing projects for some time. And I do read EACH PI thoroughly before indexing as well as ask if there is a disparity on the project instructions. Sadly while reviewing this project, it definitely shows some indexers don't even read the PI and just type away.
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Surprised to see you write:
"Late" is used to record previous married names….
This certainly doesn't apply to the recording of names in Norfolk PRs. Just one example from the thousands encountered:
Brooke register, 30 January 1786 - "Ann, daughter of Thomas and Ann Goodins, late Sheldrake spinster"
This format is repeated over a period of over 20 years and - if any of the women mentioned had been married previously - there was no mention in the entries implying that (e.g. "…late Smith, widow").
This just seems to prove (from your contrary experience) that the alternative terms for "maiden name" varied even within one country - "late" being used as such in Norfolk, but apparently not in other counties of England!
Regarding the general issue being raised here, I feel this further backs my belief that project leaders should not go against the generic PIs, except in very exceptional circumstances. For example, I read recently that a certain instruction applied to every batch (I think applying to City Directories) except when it came to just one state / batch! Surely consistency should be a key factor when indexing, so project leaders should not be allowed to set their own PIs when the clear generic instructions have already been set.
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@Paul W - yes, I was specifically aiming at usage "In the English & Welsh [civil] registration system" where the terms are explicitly laid down in the instructions to registrars. That was my context which, as I said, is all! 😉
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Sorry I missed the fact you were specifying the instructions regarding terminology to be used in E & W civil registrations!
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The reviewing instructions for the current New York Nats Project (H) include the following:
Type the given names and surnames as they were written. Include all aliases, nicknames, or variant names, including the names they entered the country with or would like their name changed to, separating each name with the word Or. Do not correct misspellings or expand abbreviations. If necessary, use the "Image Reference" tool to view the name on adjacent images.
The example is that of a female and since her marriage was after her entry into the US, they don't use an Or since it is her maiden name or a former surname. If it were a single female, or a male, we would have used the OR in between the surname upon arrival and at the time of the petition.1 -
But the point is that NOT all names (given or surnames) you use OR ALL THE TIME to separate.
People are generalizing when that is NOT always the case since EVERY project has their OWN instructions.
That is when projects get into issues when keyers assume items are correct from one to another.
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In a decade of indexing and reviewing, I have not worked on a project where we do not use the general indexing guideline: Include all aliases, nicknames, or variant names using OR to separate them. The NY Nat project that you referenced is no exception. If there is ever an exception NOT to use the OR, there will be an instruction that says something like, "Do Not use OR between the given or surnames. This instruction is an exception from all other projects."
FS added an instruction in "What to Look For in Reviewing" to the NY Nats for reviewers to include the OR in the given and surname fields. They only put advice in the What to Look for section when folks aren't following the instructions. Perhaps people are making the error because in the example they correctly indexed the Maiden/Married Surname without the OR and included the Or in the given name field. Now it is up to the reviewers to follow the general indexing guideline and add the OR when the surname has a variant or the person has an alias.1
