All the different family surnames

My husband has a very,very common surname which means when I get back before memory kicks in there are dozens of people all born at the same time in the same area. Very annoying. I have got him back to the eighteenth century more by luck and female surnames we know of but I am pretty stuck before that. Mine are much easier to trace.

Aveline

I had great difficulty trying to trace my family tree. So many had the same surnames on both sides and everyone seemed to be called John or Margaret. I gave up. We're just too boring!

🤣🤣🤣🤣

There are still birth, marriage and death certificates, as well as various censuses, so even double barrelled or no name changes should stop family trees being traced now or in the future, and in fact it may be easier as lots of records are now online and there’s companies around to help, for a price.

I had great difficulty trying to trace my family tree. So many had the same surnames on both sides and everyone seemed to be called John or Margaret. I gave up. We're just too boring!

I think if women kept their names on marriage, it would be easier to trace back your ancestry.
Children don't necessarily need to have double barrelled names either, it makes sense to choose one surname as a 'family name' as in either partner's name...
Look at the way some same sexed couples do it.
It is also sensible to choose the rarer name to prevent it dying out.

macaydia

The Catholic Church, at least, has fireproof vaults where they keep Baptismal records. If a person is married in the Catholic Church, that record is added to their Baptismal record. People have used these records in the past to trace ancestry, before the advent of the Internet.

Her name was Alice Pickett.Sadly Ireland kept all birth records in a central office that burned down

In Iceland, daughters surnames are their mother's name, with the addition of the word daughter, and sons are their father's name, and the word son.
Perhaps you recall a broadcaster called Magnus Magnusson.

My great grandfather was Italian and married an Irish woman.Name was Carlos Rocciocielli

When I see a double barrelled name I think of the Coronation St couple where she thought it made her something she clearly wasn,t.Batters y-Brown…..lol
I,m sure that put a lot of people off double barrelling their names.
My ancestry issue is that my original name is Irish and so many families have the same Christian names it’s impossible to find one branch of a family from many I can go back to 2 x gps on my mums side.My dad had one Scottish granny and I. can follow them to the early 1700,s in the western islands .
Keeps my head occupied trying to get further back though I don’t spend as much time on my tree as I used to

It used to be considered ‘posh’ to have a double-barrelled surname.

Bit like personalised car number plates.

Now, anyone has them, so no longer special, as with so many things nowadays.

I have two grandkids with double names too Tanith it’s awkward isn’t it I think we should all just keep out birth name that’s what I d do if I had my time again

It becomes even more complicated when families use both parents surnames, 2 of my GC are double barrelled.I wonder what happens if they then added another name when they have children.

Birth certificate always have parents names. It doesnt ask if they're married. I believe marriage is a religious tradition.

I do notice women these days are less likely to change their name with the argument they are not property or just for professional career reasons.