Regarding children entered with Baptismal Names
Hi folks,
In recent weeks, myself and another member have been updating details on the same family, and I see that the names of the children have now been changed from that found on official Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates in the Scottish National records to that found in a Catholic Baptismal Parish Register.
I was aware of these names given to them at the time of their baptism, but I didn't add them as they are sometimes different from the offical certificates, and they aren't found on any other legal documents to my knowledge.
I would rather keep the names as they are found on the official certificates, but I realise that the baptismal names have a special significance to others, and I don't want to cause offence in any way by changing them back.
Can someone please help me to understand what is the accepted form to use on the Family Search Tree.
Thanks.
Answers
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One of the great features of the FamilySearch tree is the "Alternate Name" section. All the different forms can be documented. And, the search and hinting algorithms take alternate forms into account.
Basic guidelines are here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/how-to-enter-names-in-family-tree
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I've seen records/sources from Catholic churches in Poland and churches in the U.S. with Polish congregations that use the Latin version of the names on baptism records.
I put it in the "Other Information - Alternate Names" section with a notation in the Reason field stating it's the "Baptism Name". For the "Vitals" section, I use the legal name used by the individual.
There may be a guideline that mentions this specific situation. But here is an article that gives similar guidance:
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Thanks for those links. There are different religions involved, and there may be some conflicting views on what is the preferred name, and as I mentioned before, I don't want to offend anyone with my own changes. I have tried contacting them via the Chat function and will await their reply.
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(My Opinion Only)
You note a common name on many sources, and a user using only one source to change the primary name in the Vitals section.
This brings me to my preferred entry method. I like to use the most common spelling of the name as found on a majority of attached sources from/during that person's lifetime as the primary entry. Name spellings change over time and getting a feel for the spelling at the time I think is showing the best acknowledgement of what the ancestor knew. This work we do is for them, and should not be about us or our modern day understandings.My very favorite source & reason is "by their own signature" often found on US draft registrations. Kind of hard to argue the person's own name when they are the one who spelled it out.
I feel you when you want to lean to the sum of Birth, Marriage, & Death records listing one name; and wanting to use that as the primary - that's what I would do. The one Baptism record with a different name convention, I would relegate to the Alternate name section.No matter what you do, be sure to fill out the reason statement as to why you make the change or make the entry.
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@Stuart5243 Sometimes we have 20 sources for a person and lots of proof for the spelling of their name, and sometimes we are lucky to have one source with a partial name. I feel like it comes down to you using your best judgement and also using the alternate name section when appropriate. I love @Jack Hern ’s suggestion about taking the spelling from their signature! If only we had those records for everyone.
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After someone changed the spelling of every member of the large family, I recently put this reason statement on the profile of my 2nd GGF, Thomas Holleran:
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