Genealogy Chat

I saw the listing for my eldest son on BMD and he was listed as having my maiden name. We married when he was 10 months old, but he was NEVER registered in my maiden name, my partner came with me to register his birth. Why would they record him having my maiden name when we registered him as having hubbys?

Hi Fee This is the second time I have heard someone say that this week, is your son also registered under your Hubby's name - registered twice in fact. My friend married the father of her son when (the son) was 2 months old and she recently found he was registered twice, once in her name and again in her husband's name. Regards Gail

Gail Yes i think he is. Why register him twice though? It almost implies there are 2 people.Future generations doing family history research will have a nightmare.

I agree, I don't know why it is done, or even if it is done as a matter of course, seems pointless to register someone twice like that. Would have thought it could even cause confusion for things like pensions, NI and so on later in their lives. Regards Gail

When registering the birth it is necessary to state the surname the child is to be brought up with. If the parents are unmarried, the father has to consent for his name to be entered as father, but this does not automatically mean the child will be registered with his surname unless this was made clear at the time.

I would check with the original office. Most of the mess-ups are in copying the info to the GRO. There is no legal basis for two registrations. Bob

I think you will find that he is not registered twice, simply indexed twice, once under each surname. Jennifer

Jennifer is right it's just the index that will have him twice. My son is in the index 3 times - Once with just his fathers name Once with both mine and his fathers name Once with just his fathers name but a year later ( as we were now married ) He's first Birth cert has his surname ' double-barrelled' but when he was re-registered he had just his fathers name. ( Not sure that makes sense ) ESta

There is only one version, it is only the index that is different. If you order under both references you would get exactly the same certificate. Jennifer

Yes the index number is the same for both in my friends case.............., so if you ordered a certificate which version would you get. Regards Gail

I also found my daughter registered twice!! When she was born i registered her, and her grandmother wanted another name added, so we went back a few months later, i was told to destroy the first cert and use the second one, but when i applied this year for a full cert for her passport, i had to get the first cert without the added name!!! now i don't know what cert she would use for Identity purposes...anyone know?..moe

You have lost me here. Birth's are not indexed twice. They are indexed under given surname and from 1911 contain the mothers maiden name. They are not indexed under the maiden name. (although if computerized could be searched by such) Bob

It is not permitted to change the original. Errors are dealt with by means of an addendum. I believe, but don't quote me that if this alters the name then a new index item may be created. My fathers, death cert had his wrong date of birth. As this was an error on the part of the coroner, he stood the expense of the amendment and issue of the new certificate, which now has a note written on the bottom.

Forenames can be changed within 12 months. This is done via the local registrar who adds the names to the register. If you order a full cert from the local registrar they will show both the new names AND the old ones. To inform the GRO he would have to send another copy. (if the other copies had been sent after three months). So the GRO might get TWO certs. This might explain the double entries. The GRO index is full of errors,omissions and double entries. Bob

Thank you all very much for helping me understand.Although my partner and i were not married at the time, we did request that he was given my partners surname not mine. He asked us if we intended getting married, and when we told him we did, he informed us it would be better to get a free certificate now, and the full one after we were married.Something about us appearing as a married couple.