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Archiver > GENBRIT > 2000-06 > 0959885694


From: Richard Senior< >
Subject: Re: Any Advice Please - Whats in a Name?
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 18:54:54 GMT


In article <>,
Eve McLaughlin <> writes:

> there is a fair chance that she, or some, of these children are
> illegitimate. Double surnames often indicate this.

I would agree that this is a possibility, but is 'fair chance' and 'often'
overstating the probability? Surely these odd middle names are much more
often an indication of a female ancestor's maiden name?

In my records of about 450 individuals there are 15 occurrences I can find
where a maiden name has been propagated through a child's middle name.
This is not counting multiple uses of the same one. In my unrepresentative
sample, only one case has any suggestion of illegitimacy.

Regards,

Richard Senior
Orpington, Kent

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