Change of name due to parents Marrying after child's birth

+6 votes
178 views
I have established that my great grandfather was James, son of James James and Phebe David. I have discovered from a 1841 Wales Census that his parents weren't married so all the children have their mother's surname of David. The mother is mentioned as phebe David and the father as James James.   All the later census uses the surname of James for Phebe and their children.  The 1841 census is the only record where it uses the surname David.  I don't know when the parents got married.  But in 1851 they are James'.  

If I use the surname James David this could be very misleading since all the other geneology records show him as James James.

 Have I got my nickers in a twist or what !

So, do I put him as James David or James James.
WikiTree profile: James James
in Genealogy Help by Marcia Thomas G2G2 (2.1k points)
retagged by Keith Hathaway

1 Answer

+9 votes
 
Best answer
In situations like this I put the mother's maiden name as Last Name At Birth and the father's name that was used later as Current Last Name. This would make your Profile read something like this: James James, formerly David.
by Helmut Jungschaffer G2G6 Pilot (594k points)
selected by John Orchard

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