Genealogy Chat

I have yet to get the marriage cert but it looks as if the family lore Leo was actually named Edward J. My aunt named Margaret was known as Peg - which I can understand; my father named Henry was known as Harry but Edward known as Leo beats me! Any explanations gratefully received. (PS was there a well known stage character or something in the early 1900s ?) Clive

Probably no logical explanation, My brother Stanley was known as Sonny or Son right up till he was 18 and he protested that his name was Stanley or Stan. that has a little logic in as much as he was the eldest son but it would have just as easy to call him by his name. Shirley

You'd have to ask the individuals concerned........ I noticed in our local paper this week a death notice for Arthur Herbert XXXXXX (Joe) No logic in that, as far as I can see............ Reg

May be he had a second name - Leonard? May be he had a lot of hair and they called him Leo the Lion. Could be anything.

I was baffled at not being able to find a birth, marriage or death record for one of my granddad's sisters, whose name was May. She was the only one of his siblings we couldn't find any records for. It was only when I (much later) looked at the parish baptismal records that I found she had been baptised (and registered at birth) as Caroline Mary. Caroline was her mother's name. Armed with that information, I was able to find all the other certs. Everyone was surprised by this as she was only ever known as May. I understand why she might have been given a nick-name to avoid there being two Carries in the house, but surely Mary, her middle name, would have been the natural choice. She wasn't born in May and as far as I'm aware, it isn't an abbreviation of Mary. Or is it? There have been two other instances, in more recent times, of a child being registered (sneakily) by one parent under the name of their choice, but being called by another name preferred by the other parent.

Good job we knew my great-uncle's name was really Arthur, otherwise we'd never have found him - he was known as Dick .. :-)

My mother and her two sisters are all known by their middle names. This is no problem to us, but I can imagine that it could be problematic to future generations if we didn't document this!

I think May might be a short form of Mary, Amanda. My great-aunty was called Mary but everyone remembers her as 'Aunty May'. My great-grandma on the other branch was called Alice Ada May and I couldn't find her anywhere on the 1901 census till I discovered that she was written down as 'May'. Our relatives obviously like making life hard. Equally unusually, I have a contact whose first name is actually George but who is known as Jim.

He didn't happen to be in the Navy did he? My Uncle Alf (Alfred) was known by his wife as Arthur for a long time. This was because when he and his shipmates were in port they never gave girls they met their real names. Even after he married my aunty and she knew his real name, the name Arthur still stuck and some friends still call him this. Kath. x

Add to Kathleen's story. Nothing changes. I was in the navy and when we were ashore not only did we use the wrong name but also said we were army or air force! Clive

Shame on you Clive, LOL :-) Kath. x

Maybe not relevant but we wondered why my dads brother was called Leo and it was with them being catholic and the Pope at the time was Pope Leo....Wanda.

May/Mary Queen Mary, consort of George V, was always known as May to both her family and also her husband's family. Jay

Kate and Janet, Thanks for that. I'd always thought that May was a completely separate name. Amanda x

I had a relation who spent most of his life known as Bump. That was the nickname he was given before he was born and it stuck. Even his wife called him Bump. When I saw his obituary I'd actually forgotten his real name was Francis. My godfather was known as Rick though his names were George Frederick. My great uncle was Jim though he was really Rudolph James. So any variation doesn't surprise me! Sue

My mom often refers to her Aunt Patty. I stupidly assumed Patricia, nope her name is Martha!.

it's very common with naval workers my friend I used to work with has a husband called Darren, but even her, their friends, his colleagues, even his son all think of him as George! Laura

It's even worse on the maternal side. Some I can guess but how does Walter get to be known as Bob? As far as I check there are no Roberts anywhere around to be 'called after'. Actually made progress today by going through quarter after quarter of marriage registrations. lol

Morning Clive. My grandfather was born in 1900 and was called Leopold. Shortened to Leo. His family had welsh ancestry. Hope this helps, Joan

Hi a quick answer for amanda, in scotland most marys are called may, also agnes is called senga, helen is called nellie, joan is also known as jan, as far as i can see it is when the sibling is names ater the parent,or grandparent. also John is jack or jock, it gets very confusing trying to trace family members. phyllis.