Genealogy Chat

can anybody help me i need some advice and it might seem a bit strange but here goes.
Was it common for people in the 1900 to change there names? sis people do it for a reason well obviously they did lol but was it known that people did it for a particular reason i am a little confused as to one of my relatives change of name and i dont know why and it has been kept qiet within the family.
Any suggestions
Michelle

On the 1900 census I have one who changed their surname, I am assuming it was because it was Irish. I know that in the 1930's my uncle missed out on jobs because he had an Irish surname.

As far as i am aware he was not Irish but dont understand why he would change his name he reverted back to it when he joined the army though obviously he would have,
Michelle

I did wonder if my lot were hiding from someone as his brother did the same thing that year too. They both changed their names but used different names. Is the name he uses connected to the family in any way?

Its all really confusing and its only looking like he changed his name since i looked at the 1911 census Its s on there as i assume his changed name as he is on my grandmothers birth cert under this sme name and i assumed my grt grandmother played away a little but it looks as though this isnt the case. As he is under this name on 1911 census and it states the year they were married whichi had that year and the marriage cert for his real name and i have a copy of his discharge papers where it states his real name so i wonder why on my grandmothers birth cert and 1911 census he goes under this other name and the strange thing is they had another daughter which was always told to the family that she was my grans step sister but actually she wasnt they were full sisters
Michelle

My grandfather apppears to have a name change for the 1901 census. He is listed under his deceased stepfather's surname living with his Mother.

By 1905 he had reverted to his birth name. I haven't found him on the 1911 yet but with a name like Tocqueville its possibly horribly mistranscribed. Of course, knowing his reputation, he may have been using an alias or just didn't fill in his form.

Sorry, our posts crossed. Sounds to me like he had something to hide or could he have changed his name to receive an inheritance?

It is a strange one isn't it. My lot only changed their surname on the 1900 census and were back to their proper name in 1911 too. We can only guess at why they would do this, but it is unusual for it to be different on a birth certificate.

I have another relative who changed his first name on a regular basis, his name is different on his marriage certificate and the 1900 census, but just assume he doesn't like his first name which is Alphonso, so can't blame him!!

I do think he changed his name for dodgy reasons lol
I thought it strange that it was on my grandmas birth cert and she always stated he was her father not the other one ( as i now no his real name) so i am surprised why she always stated that when it was the same person or she knew the real reason and she always said her sister was a step sister when in fact the were full sisters all very strange but very frustrating when we cant find out the reason for it.
Michelle

You say you have his discharge papers? I guess you mean from the Forces. Did you get them from Ancestry? If so , did you check that there weren't any subsequent entries for him a couple of pages further on?
I've seen a few on there with letters from females attached trying to track down soldiers they had flings with. Obviously, being an amateur detective i couldn't help but look for illegitimate births in the correct area a few months later and Bingo!

I've got my Grandads papers too, he went AWOL after 28 days and was dishonourably discharged nine months later for committing a "felony" No doubt nicking stuff from the quartermasters stores.

From what Ii've heard about my Grandfather's reputation he was a bit of a fly by night. He also claimed some sort of child benefit for a son who died in infancy. My Grandmother knew more than she let on about his activities and after his death she was petrified that she would get a knock on the door from the authorities. She lived on her nerves and eventually killed herself which my Father always said was partly because of his Father.

Hi Janet
Wow your poor gran worrying about all that.
I did find his discharge papers on ancestry but only them nothing else and he was only in 14 days i think before he was medicaly discharge (no doubt insanity) the thing that confused me was he stated my gran and her sister as his children and his wife was my grt gran which was ok but he wasnt my grans dad and they were step sisters this was in 1914 yet i have seen that on 1911 census so it looks like he swapped names when it suited him
Michelle