English Alias Names

Profile managers: England Project WikiTree [send private message] and Nic Donnelly [send private message]

Return to England Project Profile Standards

This page is part of the England Project Profile Standards and contains the guidance for using "alias" names in English surnames and the preferred use of the surname fields.

Alias names were used by some families in England in the period from about 1400 to about 1650. They often passed down through families for several generations. More information about them can be found in this article on FamilySearch ^[1]

In this guidance, the full form of an alias name refers to the two individual surnames, separated by the word "alias". For example, if a person is recorded as "John Chapman alias Barker", then the first surname is "Chapman", the second surname is "Barker" and the full form is "Chapman alias Barker".

The Last Name at Birth (LNAB) for a child whose father uses the full form of an alias name should be the first surname of the father on the baptism (or other record closest in time to the child's birth). Thus if the father is recorded as "John Chapman alias Barker", then only "Chapman" should be entered in the LNAB field of the child.

The Current Last Name (CLN) field should record the full form of the alias (ie Chapman alias Barker), if the child actually used this full form at the time of their death. Otherwise, this should be entered into the Other Last Name (OLN) field. The second surname (ie Barker) should also be entered as a separate name in the OLN field, for search purposes, and because some records may only show the second surname by itself.

If only a single surname appears on the baptism (ie "Barker" or "Chapman"), then that single surname is what is recorded in the LNAB field. The other surname and/or the full form of the alias name (ie Chapman alias Barker) should be added to the CLN or OLN fields as appropriate, if sources show that the person used these.

When entering the full form of the alias name, the word "alias" should always be written in full, even if abbreviated in the source ("Chapman alias Barker", NOT "Chapman als Barker").

Example 1: Person uses Chapman alias Barker throughout their life

• Last Name at Birth: Chapman
• Current Last Name: Chapman alias Barker
• Other Last Name(s): Barker

Example 2: Person's father used Chapman alias Barker at their child's birth, but person is otherwise recorded as Barker

• Last Name at Birth: Chapman
• Current Last Name: Barker
• Other Last Name(s): Chapman alias Barker

Example 3: Person's father used Chapman alias Barker at their child's birth, but person is recorded as Chapman at their death

• Last Name at Birth: Chapman
• Current Last Name: Chapman
• Other Last Name(s): Chapman alias Barker, Barker

Sources

1. ↑ Uses of Aliases, an Overview Family Search article accessed 20 June 2023.