no given name on birth record, just surname

michaeldeanballard1

In Plymouth, Mass, around 1877, what would be the reason for a birth record that only lists a surname? It also lists the parents full names. There are two of birth records for a name I have. Was there a specific reason they would not include a given name, such as a name not chosen yet, or perhaps one that died soon afterwards?

Dik Thurston

Either of those reasons is possible. Sometimes the birth record was filled in by the doctor who did not know the given name. A search of church christening records for the place where the child was born might have the name.