Genealogy Chat

when i was asking my mum about her uncles and aunts she had me going round in circles as they were known but different names to what i had onthe census my nan for instance was ethel beatrice but i knew her as nan bet, her sister was matilda alice but she used alice as her first name, her other sister adelaide was known as liz on my mums dad side they did the same mums aunty bets real name was florence, mary was lilian, claude was dennis and eric was richard

This thread has led me to wondering how many of our Victorian rellies were known by different names, but we are not aware of it.....(those goody-goodies who put their birth names on the census etc) In my more recent family I have these: Born as......Known as Winifred......May Violet..........Muriel Gladys........Gloria May............June (I like that one.....her dad got mixed up about her name at the registrars. She was born in June, not May) Merry

I had an uncle who i only ever knew as 'Titch'. I think it was because he was the youngest and smallest,but a 70 year old called Titch just seemed very strange to an eight year old. Glen

I have a family on my tree where the youngest child is called Last obviously they didn't want any more children! Caroline

LOL - I've a few on my tree, too. My grt gran Lydia was known as 'NIN' - how they came to that I've no idea - one of her sister's was known as BIDDY - turned out her real name was Martha - and another sister was known as Souk - and she was a Susan! I had a grt aunt whose name was Elizabeth...she was known, for some very strange reason, as FRITZIE, shortened to FRITZ (no she wasn't German either - that all came about because one of her nephews thought she was a bit of a tyrant and began referring to her as Aunt Fritz...remember that this was just after the war) anyway, when I was a toddler I couldn't stay 'Fritz', apparently - it came out as 'It'. So...for years, until I was in my teens, she was known as Aunt It and I thought that this was her actual name LOL. She even took on the nickname herself and would sign her letters to me as '...love from Auntie It'. Just shows you how these funny nicknames often come about!

I have just found that my mothers grandfather was called Hatton and cannot work out where that came from. He always used his second name Samuel wonder why????????????? Gwen

Cromer lifeboatman/fisherman Tuna Harrisons nick name had nothing to do with fish and came about simply that he could whistle a tune! when i was in hospital having one of mine there was a baby named Justin Payne ouch! i think the heat is getting to me! Caroline

I worked with a lady called Rosie Redbhum boy did she get the micky taken out of her and we also had an guy called Ivor Biggum in the office we all used to say that the two of them should get together.This seems unbelievable but is true. gwen

A really bad recent celebrity name - Brad Pitt's offspring Shiloh Pitt. (Think about it.)

Well, my wife has a brother named Russell Lee who is called 'Erd' (no one knows why) and another brother, Giles Taylor, called 'Jeet' (after his initials, GT). My mother-in-law was once invited to a reception for the Governor-General of Canada, and was being escorted by her son. When the Governor General's aide-de-camp asked for their names so that they could be announced, my MIL couldn't remember her son's real name. They were formally introduced as Catherine Penney and her son ... Erdwell!

while my mum was house sitting for a mr Whalley while he was in Australia she received a phone call and replyed sorry mr Wallaby is in Australia! My husband uses his middle name his first name is Ioan and the amount of letters we get addressed to Joan! or Loan is incredible, if he is Loan Morgan does that make me Tonto? Caroline

hi tim, my youngest son is russell lee foxall, my middle name is lee spelt exactly like it (hubby decided to use my middle name for him) the old joke in my family was my dad didnt know how to spell the female version of lee so thats how he spelt mine.

I have several ancestors who were named Lettice BUT the biggest giggle we have over names is a little old lady who, some years ago, gave us very involved directions to an address we were looking for then spoiled it by ending, 'Carry on up the hil 'til you come to our Jack's and then turn left.' Cliff

have had another giggle reading all your replies , what a strange lot we are researching.It also reminded me of an Aunt who I discovered still alive and had not seen her ever, I sent her some photos of her siblings and she asked me who were the 2 boys in Uniform, bearing in mind they had to shave their heads ,so I said your brothers Harold and Charles no they cant be she said they had long thick curly hair!!!!!!! she also told me one of her sisters was called May because she was born in May and it took me ages to find her Birth know why??? because she was born in March !!!!!!!

Not a funny one, this, but it taught me never to assume anything. I'd been looking everywhere for the death of my grandma's sister and her husband, and couldn't find a thing (they lived in Australia, and I never met them, so I didn't even know the rough date). I eventually found their burials on a cemetery site - and they were both registered under *her* maiden name! Still trying to work that one out.

ooh Mary how strange ,

My dad is the same all these years everyone has called him Jim so I assumed that his name was James. No, nothing as simple as that his name is Cyril !!!. The story is that my Granddad used to call him 'his sunny Jim' and the Jim stuck. He is even listed in the phone book as James. Try and find him in a hundred years LOL Julie

I spent ages trying to find the death of my great grandfather. Mum just knew him as grandad King, he was baptised David King, appeared on all censuses as David King, married as David King. When I eventually tracked down his death certificate, helped by a kind person at the local reg. office, I found his son had registered the death of AMBROSE King. Now I'm left wondering whether he was actually known as Ambrose or whether his son just got totally confused.

Not my rellie, but I once found a lady christened Button Hole while researching local history.

morning everyone, I must say I have found this very interesting I did not realise it was that bad , no wonder we are having problems.I recently found my grandmother on my mothers side who I and everybody called Sadie was actually christened Susan, and her son my Uncle who I always thought was Raymond was Abraham , his Grandfather who everybody thought was surname Rose turned out to be Guttentag , As I say I wish I'd never started.