Irregular Names

Name variations and abbreviations

In some cases the names given to the Census are not the same as those recorded on a person's birth certificate. Many people used an informal name rather than their full official one.

Example Elizabeth Anne Fitzsimmonds may have given her name as Bessie Simmonds

In addition, certain abbreviations were in common use.

Example William Brown may be recorded as Wm Brown

To help you locate such names, the Advanced Person Search can include synonyms for first names . To return siimilar matches for first names on the Advanced person search page, please tick the box that reads Include Synonyms?.

First Name and Last Name reversed

In most cases the "First Name" field contains a person's forename eg: John, the "Last Name" field contains the surname eg: "Smith". However in some cases, such as vessels and military institutions, people were listed by their surname followed by their forename or initials. In these cases the "First Name" field contains the person's surname. If you have not located the name you require, try reversing the "first" and "last" name and searching again.

Example Captain John Robert Smith may be recorded with the first name as Smith and the last name as Capt.J.R.

Double-barrelled names

These are not always easy to identify, as they may have been recorded with or without hyphens or spaces between the two parts of the surname. You may need to make a separate search for each part of the name.

Example John Martin-Smythe may be recorded with the last name of Martin-Smythe or just Smythe.

If you want to specify a middle name or if you are having difficulty in finding a hyphenated or irregular name in some other way you may wish to try the Advanced Person Search.