Preferred names vs. first names

+8 votes
425 views
Several people in my grandmother's family went by their middle names rather than their first names all their lives, and I'm not sure how to list them.

For example, James Newton Miller always went by Newton even on things like census documents. His daughters Clara Irene and Amanda Leona always went by Irene and Leona, his sister-in-law Eliza Jane Mussulman seems to have gone by Jane much of the time, etc. (I didn't even know Leona, my great-great-grandmother, had a different first name, since it's not used on anything except her birth record and very first census. Everything else is under Leona, and my grandmother was named Leona in her honor, not Amanda.)

If I set those as both their middle and preferred names, it doubles them up. Neither one seems to override their first names, which could be confusing to people looking for them by the names they used for most of their lives. Listing them just as middle names could send people looking for information they won't find under first names. Putting their middle names in the first name field is inaccurate.

I'm not sure how to deal with this issue. I want them to be easy to find - I desperately want collaborators on this branch! - so it would be great if there was a way Leona Miller could be listed as that instead of Amanda, for example. But I don't want to be inaccurate, either.

Any suggestions?
in WikiTree Help by K. Cathey G2G5 (5.6k points)
retagged by Ellen Smith
The birth certificate is what it is.

Would it not be simpler to put the name used in capital letters?

Julie CAROLINE Trottier. I can tell at a glance she goes by Caroline!

2 Answers

+8 votes
It's not strictly kosher, but the best way to get WikiTree to display these names appropriately is to put both names in the "Proper First Name" field, then put the middle name (the name the person went by) in the "Preferred Name" field.

So for James Newton Miller, you would put "James Newton" for Proper First Name and "Newton" for Preferred Name. Then the public page display will show him as "James Newton (Newton) MIller".

And however you handle this, explain the name situation in the biography section of the profile.
by Ellen Smith G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
Thank you! I will definitely go back and explain in the profiles, I hadn't thought of that.
Ellen, how does that display differently than it would if you put the names in the proper fields? If you enter first and middle names in their respective fields and the middle name in the preferred name field it still displays as James Newton (Newton) Miller, doesn't it? I'm confused, but it may just be lack of coffee.
+7 votes
For my family, I've not followed Ellen's prescription.  First name is first birth name, such as Oscar and middle name was Theodore, but preferred name was Ted which was both his nickname and his preferred name.

Another example is Robert Scott, whose preferred name and middle names were Scott though his first name was Robert.  He was never listed as Robet Scott anywhere except his birth certificate.
by David Hughey G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)

If the preferred name was "Ted," it's not the same situation as a person using their middle name.

What did you do with Robert Scott? If you follow the official protocol and enter Robert Scott Miller with Robert as his first name, Scott as his middle name, and Scott as preferred name, I think the name displays as Robert S. (Scott) Miller, which is a form that people object to because the person was never "Robert S."

Oh, now I see what you're saying, but I think the initial is only displayed on profiles with yellow+ privacy. In which case it would actually display as Ted S. Miller. If the privacy is set to green or open the name displays the same as it would if you enter the names in the correct fields.

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