Genealogy Chat

My grandad's birth cert says "george charles james" yet his marriage cert says "charles george james" and everyone knew him as Charlie...should I assume the registrar got it wrong at the birth?

Who was it that registered the birth? If it was the father he might have said the names in one order and when his wife heard she might have decided that it was meant to be the other way round so he was always known the way the mother wanted the name to be.

Oh bother, now you have me in a pickle.....I just re-checked the certs I had delivered today. On the birth cert his mother (Sarah) registered him as George Charles James and the father was George Charles BUT on his marriage it's Charles George James and his father is Edward!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have found a marriage on FreeBMD for a Sarah and Edward HELPPPPPPPPPPP! LOL

Just seeing your message made me think of my father in law we only knew him as Charles, but when he died we found out he was Arthur Charles, he's even on our marriage as Charles Arthur just checked. Irene

My father was always known as Edward Reginald and everything had this signature on. It was only when he needed a replacemant birth cert for a passport to go abroad with that it came to light he was Reginald Edward...His grandmother registered his birth and wanted his name this way round so she won,but his family called him Ted On another note just to confuse even more how about this ...on visiting a grave of an ancestor the inscription said Wilfred all his life he was known as that,but the name he was registered with was Reuben ...was it a case of call me whatever you want just dont call me late for tea Lynn

Well this birth certificate just gets more and more confusing..... Was the registrar drunk that day??? LOL

Hi, I had the same problem, my Grandad was known as Harry, we always thought his name was Henry Alfred, this is onm his marriage cert and army records only when we found his birth cert it was Alfred Henry, I think they used the name they preferred as back then many sons were named after their fathers (well most of my rellies), so I spose to stop confusion they were called by their middle names. Nikii

My grandad's name was Ashley, but was known as Bob... can't work that one out!! Karen

Hi Caroline, I think this was quite a common problem espeically if children were named after their parents. My GG Grandfather was born William Land Poynts, Married as William Robert Poynts and died as Robert William Land Poyntz. Also my GG Grandmother was born as Emma Elizabeth Goodyear, Married as Eliza Goodyear and died as Emma Eliza Goodyear. Naomi