* Male child with just a surname on a Birth Certificate

[janefrances]

Any ideas on how to record the above? I have a baptism entry which relates to the above child being named as George. I would like to record the birth but don't really want <no name> followed by his surname. Many thanks.

[LornaCraig]

If you are quite certain the baptism relates to the same child, I would enter his name in FH as George. Then cite the birth certificate as a Source for the date and place of birth but add a note saying that his name had not been decided at the time of registration of the birth.

[tatewise]

Just to satisfy my curiosity, how do you know the name on the Birth Certificate is a surname?
Usually on a Birth Certificate, the column 2 Name, if any. is just the forename(s) of the child.
The surname has to be deduced from columns 4 Name and Surname of Father. and 5 Name and Maiden Surname of Mother..

I agree with Lorna. There are often cases where the details in a Fact are not all necessarily justified by each Source Citation. In this case add the Baptism Source Citation as justification for the forename.

[janefrances]

Sorry, maybe I didn't explain it very well! The child's forename on the birth certificate is missing from Column 2 - however Columns 4 (Name and Surname of Father) and 5 (Name and Maiden Surname of Mother) are filled in with all of the parents details.

[brianlummis]

Like Mike, I am always curious when the unusual turns up.

Just a couple of thoughts that you may have already covered but maybe worth saying.
1) Was there a subsequent registration of the name?
2) Is the birth certificate an original or a certified copy and if the latter did it come from the Registry Office or the GRO? - Just thinking that if it is a GRO copy, has the first name been passed on by the Registrar when forwarding the extract of the register?

Brian

[janefrances]

Hi Brian,
There was nothing added in the Baptismal Name after the Registration of Birth. To be honest, normally I wouldn't have took a chance and ordered it, however the GRO had the additional extra information that the Mother's Maiden Surname was given in the indexes so I was pretty sure I had the correct child. As the parents registered the birth within two days maybe he was not expected to survive.

[brianlummis]

As it is a copy from the GRO I think that I would phone the Registrars Office where the original registers are held to see if they would have a look at the register to check for any possible annotations. You may be lucky and get hold of a helpful person who would like to assist in establishing why a first name was not entered. Brian

[Gowermick]

Getting back to your original question, I too have come across this situation a few times, and don’t consider it too unusual. You’ve only got to look at freebmd to see how many Male and Female entries there are!

I simply enter infant or child as forename and select correct sex to indicate boy or girl. I then add a note to show mothers maiden from GRO, and the fact he/she was registered wihtout a forename.
If there is a subsequent Christening; Census or Death registered showing the actual forename, I amend the record accordingly, leaving the note to remind me what happened.