Genealogy Chat

Just checked my son's entry and YES indeed he is registered under my previous married name (grrrrrr) AND again under his father's name! Their are two entries under his father's name - I assume because after we married, we requested his birth certificate be amended. I had no idea that entries were made in both names if parents were not married at time of registration. Wish I'd reverted to my maiden name after divorce now! Thanks so much for your help and advice. Dee x

I have a very similar case, my Grandmother gave birth to a child after my grandad died, and she registered the baby under her name and he under his, I have spoken to the family and this is what happened.

Hi Dee, I had a similar situation with my own birth cert, i wanted my original to find out who my real dad was, sent of for the cert and they sent a copy of one i already had, had to phone them and explain to them what i wanted. Hope that helps. Micheal.

Thanks girls for your replies...I didn't realise that he might be indexed under both names. Think I will check my own son's entry on the index tomorrow (too tired now)....as my husband and I weren't wed at the time of his birth. If what you say is correct, he wil be on there twice too. We did apply after our marriage for his certificate to be reissued showing both of us with the same surname, but there is codicil on his birth certificate and a note in the index indicating this. Thanks again everyone.. Dee x

I had two refs for the same child where a middle name had been changed -so there was an entry in the last column for ''name changed after registration''. Christine

Yes, if the Vol and page no are the same (as they should be) then there is only one cert record, just two ways to get to it!! If you think about it, on a birth cert where the parents are married, there isn't a column for the surname of the child.....that is just taken as being the parents joint surname........so where the parents are not married the entry is indexed twice because it isn't clear what surname the child will take. Merry

He won't have been registered twice, just entered in the index under both surnames. If you look at a birth certificate, you will see that the child's surname is not given, just his / her first name(s), and the name including surname of the father, and the name including surname and maiden name of the mother, so if the father's surname is different from the mother's surname it will be indexed under both their surnames. That doesn't mean that the birth is registered twice! Kate.

The strange thing is both entries - as I've said with different surnames - have the same Vol and page numbers. So if I ordered the certificate I would only get ONE wouldn't I?? My relative has told me that the birth certificate he has is in my grandfather's name - not in the name of my grandmother's estranged husband. Perhaps someone just forgot to amend the entry on the register? Dee x

It is legal as my niece is registered in her mother's first husband's name (her mother was still married to him when she was born), but then registered again in my brother's name (her real dad) when her mother left her first husband. There are usually other numbers or letters in the index though. Kath. x

Dee, I have one who was registered twice. But his was with exactly the same details. When looking for his birth, i found 2 likely ones. To avoid waiting I ordered both. When they came through, the only difference on the 2 certs are the date of registration. His birth was first registered by his mother on the 12th June, Then again on the 15th (Again by his mother)! ALL the details are the same, even the same registrar. I phoned the register Offic about it and was told that they had no explanation, and as far as they could see, It WAS the same person. Pat

Everyone with unmarried parents who was registered with both parents present should have two birth index entries. My step dau had two children born before she married and they both have two reg's, one for each surname, because she took her partner to the reg office with her! Merry

Exactly my thoughts Kath....the problem I have is convincing HIM! But I am still wondering if it's OK (and legal) to be registered twice. Dee x

I would imagine that it's much more likely that he is the child of the second partner, otherwise there would seem little point in re-registering the birth. Kath. x

Dee I would send for both and hang the cost!! Its the only way you will find out for sure. Margaret

Thanks for the replies. Yes. I am absolutely certain its the same person. It's a complicated story, and he is a living relative, so can't go into detail...but his mother (my late grandmother) was married to someone else at his birth. He is convinced he is the child of her husband. But by the time he was born she was living with my late grandfather. I looked at 1837 under both names....that of my grandmother's first husband and that of my grandfather. My relative is registered twice, once with her husband's surname and separately, under a different alphabetical section, with my grandfather's surname. She was not married to my grandfather at the time of my relatives birth. There are no notes or amendments on either image. This must mean he could have two birth certificates - one in each name? Dee x

Maybe he was with her at the original registration? If unmarried people register an child together, the child's name should appear in the indexes twice.....with his surname and with the mother's surname (be that her maiden name or a married name) Merry

Are you sure its the same person? I found a death I thought had been registered twice. Turned out to be mother and daughter who died within 2 weeks of each other and were on the same page in the register. I also thought I had found a similar situation to the one you describe. I sent for both certs and found that one was no relation at all. just a coincidence. Wasn't even the same town, just the same registration district. You wont know unless you send for both certs. Margaret

I think the mother would have had to be with him at the second registration. There is usually some reference on the index to the other entry when this happens. Kath. x

A relative of mine, I've just discovered, has his birth registered TWICE on 1837, under different names. Firstly under his mother's estranged husband's name, and then again under her partner's name. Everything else is the same...even the Vol. and Page numbers. There are no footnotes on the image about any correction being made. It looks as if the mother has probably registered him without her partner present, so he therefore would have to be registered in his mother's married surname. Then, perhaps, her partner has gone along and registered him again with HIS surname! Can this be legal....? Dee x