Genealogy Chat

I am just wondering why a birth in WW1 years would be registered simply as Smith (Male)?

Many thanks :-)

Perhaps they just hadn't decided on a name.


"5. No name given at birth

Some children were registered before they were named. This may give a clue to the religious affiliation of a family. Tradition in some religions meant that children weren't named until baptism. On the birth certificate, column 10 allows additional entries to be made later. As far as the indexes and indeed the certificate are concerned, the child was registered as "male" or "female" followed only by the surname. Such entries are shown at the end of the alphabetical listing and should always be looked at."

http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/help-getting-started-with-genealogy/guide-three

There were 68 births recorded 1914/18 for "Smith, Male" and 73 deaths, 72 of them for infants under 1. Possibly children who died very soon after birth and were not named. So sad!

Perhaps the father was away fighting and the mother did not want to decide on a name before hearing from him. You only have six weeks in which to register a birth and it may have taken longer than this for the father to be told about the birth.

Kath. x

All very interesting, thank you very much. :-)

The legal requirement is that you register the birth. There is no requirement that the child ever be named. If you look at a 1914 b.cert, there is a special column (col 10) for names added after registration, but there is no requirement that the child's name be entered there after naming.

Quite often .in my research , I have found such birth regs are for a baby that died soon after birth .

Have you looked for a later birth for the person you are looking for :-)

The birth and death of an un named infant was often registered on the same day.

Many thanks everybody, question answered :-) :-) :-)

My wife has ancestors from Dublin, late 1800's.

Those born at home were registered by a member of the family with a name. However births which took place at the Rotunda Hospital were registered by a hospital official without a name.

That's interesting InspectorGreenPen.. many thanks for responding.