Also in response to Phyllis
Have you tried the LDS program and found it doesn't meet your needs? Free is
great. I am speaking from only one experience though as that is the only
program I have used.
Doug

Kathleen Much wrote:

> Phyllis Cloyd asked:
>
> My daughter is buying me a new genealogy software program.  So I will
> be changing over my data and hope that this will be my last change.  I
> will be doing editing of my existing data at the same time and want to
> try to GET IT RIGHT this time.  Ha.
>
> 1.  If someone is adopted, which name do you list for that person?  I
> assume the birth name if you know it.  But where do you put the
> adopted name?  The adopted name appears on marriage certif., deeds,
> etc.
>
> 2.  How do you correctly show the nickname for a person?  And what if
> there is more than one nickname?
>
> 3.  How do you correctly show a title such as "Deacon" or "Sir" or
> "Reverend"?
>
> 4.  Where do you put "Jr." or "Sr."?  -- Or "III" or "IV", etc.?
> Years ago I heard that when "Sr." dies, the "Jr." is dropped from the
> second generation.  Does that apply in genealogy?
>
> 5.  And how do you handle the variant spellings for both surnames and
> given names?
>
> -----------
> If your daughter buys you Reunion, some of your questions will be
> solved very simply by the structure of its database. Enter the terms
> you want in the appropriate box on the "person card".
>
> There are always controversies about how to represent names, and no
> one "right" way. At least Reunion allows you to explain in a note why
> you chose the form you did.
>
> For adoptees, I generally assign the person the surname he used most
> of his adult life. Reunion allows you to link him to both his birth
> and adoptive families, appropriately labeled. In the note I put the
> other name and when it was used, if I know: Born James Keenan Webb;
> adopted by Henry Morris about 1970; now called James Arthur (Jimmy)
> Morris. If a person had his name changed legally, I note when and
> where the change was recorded.
>
> Some people put nicknames in quotation marks. I prefer to put the
> name(s) the person was called by in parentheses: Sarah Ellen (Sally);
> Thomas Edward (Blind Tom, TE); Mary Elizabeth (Mary); Emma (Birdie,
> Babe).
>
> Jr and Sr had different meanings in earlier days. They do NOT imply a
> son-father relationship before about 1800 (they may represent it, but
> you can't infer it), merely a younger and an older man of the same
> name in a locality. You must document the usage in a note. III, IV,
> etc., are ways to keep track of a lineage but probably were not used
> by the person in his lifetime. Reunion has a "suffix" box where you
> can enter them.
>
> Record alternate spellings in the notes. I generally use the name the
> person used most often on his main card and give variants in the notes
> with sources cited (I have one man whose name was spelled at least 17
> ways in his lifetime). Reunion's citation method encourages proper
> documentation.
>
> Whatever you do, be consistent. When you share your data, include a
> key to your notation system.
>
> Kathleen Much
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>
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