The following article was written by Bryan L. Mulcahy, Reference Librarian at the Fort Myers-Lee County Library, and was reprinted with his permission:
How often have you encountered and individual or family in a census which looks like yours, but the names aren’t quite right? Have you found what appears to be your great-grandfathers marriage license, except that it says he’s married to someone named who went by a different name instead of what you always heard?
Our ancestors’ seemingly changing names often leave us puzzled and frustrated, when in fact such apparent name changes are often just a result of the recording of an individual’s nickname or middle name in the official records. While some think this is a historical trait, in reality, many people today are known by different names to our family, friends, and business associates. My father’s name was Lawrence yet his family always referred to him as Bob. His middle name was Robert.
Nicknames stand for the name of a person or thing other than its proper name. The nickname may either substitute or be added to the proper name. It may be a familiar or truncated form of the proper name, such as Bob, Bobby, Rob, Robbie, Robin, and Bert for Robert. It is common in many genealogical records, especially more informal records such as census records and obituaries, to find your ancestors listed under names you might not expect. In many cases these names may have been the nicknames as they were known to their family and friends.
Nicknames have always been popular, but until the modern era, people generally used whatever variation of their legal given name they felt like using at various times during their life. Legal requirements that govern the processing of how legal papers in modern times were non-existent. Once an ancestor was out on their own, they often adopted a nickname or a variation of their given name.
Nicknames can sometimes be difficult to catch, however. “Kim” as a nickname for “Kimberly” is fairly straightforward, but “Polly” as a nickname for “Mary” and “Peggy” as a nickname for “Margaret” have tripped up many genealogists. Sometimes nicknames were formed by adding a “y” or “ey” to the end of a name or part of a name – i.e. “Johnny” for “John” or “Penny” for “Penelope.” Other times the name was shortened in some manner – i.e. “Kate” for “Katherine.” But sometimes it is just a matter of knowing which nicknames were commonly used in a particular time and place. That’s why it is important, as a genealogist, to familiarize yourself with commonly used nicknames and their corresponding given names. Do not forget, however, that what appears to be a nickname isn’t always – many nicknames became so popular that they later were bestowed as given names.
For further reading, see: Nicknames Past And Present – 5th Edition Revised, by Christine Rose
