I have several names and not sure which to use?

Question

Have this woman's birth certificate issued by Maltese government but it state hew name as "Govanna Roisa Maria Teresa" but also states it as Giovanna Rosa which is under "to be called".  Which and how should I put her name?  This is from her actual birth certificate.  Her name is under a column " Given names".

Answer 1

Hi E.,

WikiTree asks for the LNAB. Last Name At Birth. Or at the earliest document you can find. Use the spelling of the name at the earliest doc you can find. :)  Do not worry to make mistakes. You can change things later if the spelling at earlier docs are different. Just use/stick to reliable sources. And use the earliest document.

That means, in my humble opinion, the way I take the WT rules,  if you can not find a reliable birth or baptism doc/note, please do not copy names from the internet wtihout sources. But use the oldest reliable document you can find and check with your own eyes. For example the marriage document or even the death document to fill in the boxes at the edit page of the profile till you maybe find earlier records.  

Good luck and very happy treeing E. I  hope I did understand your question right and answered your question satisfactory.

Thank you for posting your question!

A.

Comments

Last I checked, "given name" in English always maps to "first name", so LNAB is irrelevant to the question.

Answer 2

This may not be how old-timers around here would do it, but I would put Giovanna Rosa Maria Teresa under "proper first name" (yes, it'll complain), and Giovanna Rosa under "preferred name". I'd also check the box for "no middle name".

The reason I'd do it this way is that the concept of middle names is murky at best, and almost nobody does it the way the U.S. (the basis for WikiTree's current setup) does it. According to the Social Security Administration, middle names are not technically part of your official name. In other countries, all of your given names are considered equally part of your name, and you're free to use whichever one(s) you want.

Comments

I followed your suggestion and it seemed to work okay.  Thank you as had no idea which name to use.  I put all 4 names under slot for first name and put her "to be called" under the spot you suggested.  You have been a big help.