Alias?.....

[pigwidgeon]

I'm in the process of researching my husband's maternal line and have come across Catherine Young, maiden name given as Brown and Sword on various certificates, though I'm quite certain they're all referring to the same person. Does anyone know if one of those names might have been an alias? They had a similar practice in England before proper surnames were established, but I wasn't aware of it happening in Scotland well into the 19th century?! Help please, as I'm now having to check for three different surnames. Many thanks
Petra

[LesleyB]

Hi Petra
Without seeing the document(s) you are referring to I can think of a few reasons why someone's name may change...

1. If the person was illegitimate they may have started life with one surname e.g. their mother's surname, then taken on either their father's name for some reason, or the name of a man their mother subsequently married.

2. If the person had been married previously their surname may have changed.

3. The registar may have misheard: Young/Brown could be confused depending on the annunciation of the person saying it, and if they did not see it written or even if they were not able to read themselves they would not have been aware that it was written wrongly.

4. The registrar may have made a straight-forward mistake.

5. If it was a death entry where a surname is stated wrognly it may be the case that the death informant did not really know the maiden name, or in the stress of the moment, got it wrong.

Maybe if you can give us a rundown of dates, locations, document types and what version of the name is turning up on each, someone may be able to shed some light on it for you. There may be another reason for it that I've not covered above!!

Best wishes
Lesley

[pigwidgeon]

I had a thorough look at the records and found Catherine's maiden name to be Brown on both her death certificate and her son's marriage certificate. On Catherine's death certificate she is described as widow of Samuel Young, her parents are named as Archibald Brown and Ann Downie. IGI lists a marriage for Samuel Young and Catherine Sword in 1819, as well as a baptism for Katherine Sword in 1801, parents Archibald Sword and Ann Downie. I'm sure I've got the right family, the change in surnames is puzzling me a bit, though. Any ideas?
Many thanks
Petra

[joette]

I would think it's wrong info on the Death& Son's Marriage Certs.
I'll bet there are/were lots of people who could not name their Grandparents.
She may have given wrong info to son,it may have been recorded wrongly,he may have thought that was the correct names of Grandparents& just duplicated what was on his Marriage certificate for the Death-assuming he reported it? The person who reported death is likely to have used info from Marriage Certificate as their reference.