In numerous places and locations, my great-grandmother is listed as Trientje or Tena. Those sources include her birth certificate from 1895, her baptismal entry, her confirmation record, her marriage record, tombstone, etc. Both names are occasionally spelled incorrectly, but the meaning is always clear even if the writer used a name phonetically similar.
One published genealogy (sans sources) lists her first name as something clearly not Trientje or Tena. Some would say that I should include this name as an alternate name for her. I will not. It’s an apparent oversight and, based on over forty years of research and personal knowledge of the family, clearly incorrect.
I’ve made a note of it in her file. It’s a clear error and determining how it came to be isn’t really a good use of my time. Sometimes an error is simply an error.
Now if I only had two documents that listed her name, a new name would be more of a concern. But if the only reference to a name is in a material that has no sources listed and numerous original sources with primary information point consistently to one name, I’m inclined to go with the sourced name.
No responses yet