Often the names of our ancestors recorded on census returns or other papers never seem to line up with their given names. I’ve been struggling to find the ‘real’ name of an ancestor recorded on documents as Minnie.
Is she Mary or Martha?
There were oodles of females named as Mary and also Martha in this family.
And to complicate matters I can’t find documents with either name for the time period I’m looking at so I can pinpoint which name she was given.
In another line I’ve got a Kathleen known as Kitty and a Mary known as May.
John was Jack and Charles was Chuck, oh and James was Jim
Nicknames- the bane of a genealogist’s life
If you’ve ever wondered how they came about you might be interested
in these (safe) links.
They are all similar but fun to read and could supply the answer
As to why your Aunt Margaret was often called Daisy
https://www.buzzfeed.com/katangus/how-is-polly-short-for-mary
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/24761/origins-10-nicknames
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Traditional_Nicknames_in_Old_Documents_-_A_Wiki_List
https://usefulenglish.ru/vocabulary/womens-names.
https://www.behindthename.com/glossary/view/diminutive
https://cafemom.com/parenting/172329-30_nicknames_that_make_better
Fun Friday – the day you forget the worries of the week.
I think we all deserve a smile at the moment 😊
Still Waters 