US, Arizona—Birth Certificates, 1880–1940 [MQRR-QYZ] question - maiden name

Sylvia Reed

For some of these birth record examples in the project instructions, it does NOT put the maiden name of the mother before the surname (of the father) and some of the examples DO put the maiden name with the surname.

Is the maiden name included with the surname when the "Full maiden name" of the mother has the same surname as the father, and the maiden name is located elsewhere and can be added? It doesn't seem like the directions are very clear if the "full maiden name" of the mother doesn't have the same name of the father. Has anyone else had this question?

Thanks!

erutherford

The maiden name goes before the current name if the current name is listed. This goes for every project.

From the Mother's Surname Field Help:

Maiden names should be typed in this field before the current or former surnames. A maiden name was often indicated by the words "née" or "born as." A maiden name may also have been written in parentheses.

Keep in mind that the instructions go Field Help, then Project Instructions and lastly, General Indexing Guidelines.

Generally, birth certificates will list just the maiden name of the mother, since these ask if the child was legitimate. My birth certificate has my mother's maiden name even though my parents had been married for 10 years before I showed up. So if George Smith and Ann Smith, but lists Jones as her name and her and George were married when they had little Johnny, Ann's name is indexed as Jones. We do not assume anything in indexing. We type only what we can see.