#52Ancestors - Week 26 - Identity

From people who are known by nicknames to those who use their middle names, from people with the same names to those who change their names completely, sometimes proving the identity of a particular relative can be a challenge that is almost impossible.

Several of my relatives have commonly used nicknames or middle names, even in official records.  One of my uncles was always known as David - it wasn't until I went looking for his military records that I discovered he was actually named William David, but always called David by the family because his father was William.  When looking for official records, he sometimes appears under each name, and they appear to be interchangeable.  In less formal records he always appears as David.

My father's older brother Ernest was always known in the family as Squib, and in some records he is actually recorded by this nickname.  I have learned that if I cannot find him in any records by his proper name, it is a good idea to check under his nickname as well.

Another time it is challenging to establish someone's identity is when there are multiple individuals with the same name.  I've written in Week 24 - Popular name about my Irish ancestors.  In my Mulholland family four brothers all named their first son James, after their father.  One child died at 2 days old and the name was reused 18 months later.  This meant there were five children named James Mulholland, born within five years and a few miles of each other. Determining the identity of each individual is a challenge, especially when two of these men (including my direct ancestor) married women named Mary.  They create quite a tangle of records.

Finding an ancestor who changes their name completely is a much greater challenge.  We all have a few who disappear from the records completely, some reappearing years later and others who vanish, never to return.  Some do not seem to want to be found and completely disappear.  Did they die?  Emigrate?  End up in a goal or asylum?  Sometimes the individual simply cannot be found.

Establishing the identity of our ancestors is fundamental to our task as family historians - and sometimes it simply isn't that easy to do!