This was not uncommon. My Father's name was changed after he was 4 years old - after the 1900 census. They marked the original name out in the family Bible and wrote in the new name. They changed his middle name from "Bryan" to "Alva" in honor of a prominent uncle who had no male heirs & they did not want the name to die out. I did not know about this until I started doing genealogy about 8 years ago. Mary Winn 2623 W Watrous Ave. Tampa, FL 33629 813-254-3852 [log in to unmask] In a message dated 3/15/2011 9:48:59 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: I wonder if this happened more than a few times. When starting my research I came across two members of my grandads family that I had never heard of. One was named Robert and the other Adolpus Elias. Robert had the same birth date as my grandfather Elias. I thought he must of had a twin that died shortly after birth except I could not find my grandfather Elias' birth record. Then I found out that Adolphus Elias had the same birth date as my great uncle Adolphus Theodore. After speaking with an older sister of the two she told me that Adolphus was the first boy born and her parents had named him after both grandfathers, ( one grandfather being Adolphus Theodore and the other being Elias). After about a year another son was born and they first named him Robert, sometime shortly after they decided to name one son after one grandfather and the other son after the other. So they changed Adolphus Elias' name to Adolphus Theodore and the other, Robert to Elias. If my great aunt had not been alive to tell us the story we would have never known, my great uncle didn't even know the story that his name had been changed. Stan To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html