Not to be a "topper," but you all might get a kick out of this story. In 1989 I applied for a U.S.passport in Phoenix, AZwhere I was living at the time. I went to the local Passport office and took my "birth certificate" with me. At that office I was told that the "birth certificate" I had been carrying around all my life, which showed my middle name as Lucius, wasn't an actual official birth certificate at all, but a statement that my birth had been registered. I was told that I needed to apply for an official copy of my birth certificate through the Virginia Vital Records department. I did so, and soon an official copy of my birth certificate arrived in the mail. You can imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and found that my official birth certificate stated my middle name was Thomas, not Lucius, the name I had used all of my life. I called Richmondto verify that that's what the record showed and they confirmed that the official record showed my middle name to be Thomas. I really can't give any explanation of how this might actually have occurred beyond the following. My parents (long deceased) named me for my two grandfathers, Allan Lee Phillips and Thomas Lucius Willey. My grandfather Willey signed his name as T. Lucius Willey, and I understand that everyone called him Lucius. Perhaps someone, I can't guess who, got confused and wrote Thomas instead of Lucius on the birth certificate application. In any event, I have always used Lucius and think of it as my “real” name and plan to continue to use it.Allan Willey To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html