I’ve encountered instances in my research where children have provided maiden names of their mothers that were inconsistent with information actually provided by the mother and that were completely wrong based on more contemporary and reliable records on the mother. Sometimes children do not know their mother’s maiden name. One should always try and locate contemporary information regarding the maiden name of a woman if at all possible and avoid relying solely on information provided by children (or grandchildren) decades after the person has died. That is not always possible in some locations and time periods.
I’ve also encountered instances where the children gave a last name for the mother that I initially thought was “wrong,” only later it turned out to be right. Sometimes they do know their mother’s maiden name. I have also encountered wrong maiden names of the mother provided by children that turned out to have some connection to the family (eg. a step-parent’s last name, maiden name of grandmother, married name of another relative, etc.).
Information children provide about their mother’s maiden name is secondary because they were not there when she was born. But, they do have knowledge of their mother’s family if they grew up knowing their mother’s parents, siblings, and other close relatives. That information and those connections should not be discounted.
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