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?

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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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