NAMES - Understanding nicknames might make the connection.

Question

Recently in another forum, a person asked whether a Jessie and her Janet could be the same person.  The answer of course is YES!  Sometimes people had nicknames related to physical attributes: Stringer, Twiggy.  And some to personality traits: Porridge (slow to stir) etc. But more often their nicknames were a corruption of their names - Janet, Jan, Nettie, Jessie.  Elizabeth - Beth, Liz, Betty etc.  You can usually find these in good baby name books.  Sometimes you need to look harder - Arty (for a girl) could be Harriet - Hearty - Arty etc. Finding a person's real name if you don't know it, could be the answer to connecting your family to a bigger tree!

Answer 1

can this mean nicknames can be used as first names? also?

thank you, Lilly Anderson G2G-6

Comments

I had an uncle, Jede, who was called that almost all of his life, that and Jedon. Census records, a death certificate, gravestone, etc. My grandfather always called him that. However, in the very first census he shows up in, the name is GIDEON. I found out later that “Jede” or “Jead” is a nickname for Gideon. So, on his profile Gideon is his first name, and Jede is in the nickname field, even though Jede was the name he was known all his life and what he called himself. If I only put Jede in the prename field, Gideon wouldn’t be known.

Answer 2

Agree 100%. I have an ancestor known as Mary/Nancy/Polly Hardy who has been a brick wall for a long time.  She seemed to change her name once a decade.