What Is Mothers Maiden Name? Mothers maiden name is the surname of a woman which she uses before her marriage. She must use this name while applying for official documents, such as her driver’s license, college application forms, etc.
What Is Meant by the Word Maiden Name?
According to [Merriam-Webster], a maiden name is a noun that refers to a woman’s last name before marriage or divorce, according to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged English Dictionary and the Cambridge Dictionary. This is also known as her maiden name or family name.
| Maiden Meaning | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Surname | Her maiden name is the surname she was given at birth. After marriage, some women keep their maiden names, while others hyphenate both last names. Some ladies take their new husband’s surname as their last name. |
| Common Password | A maiden name is a common password security question on various websites. If a user forgets their password, many websites may ask for their mother’s maiden name as a security question. |
| Birth Name | A person’s birth name is usually obtained from their father. However, many women take their husband’s or spouse’s surname upon marriage. |
Summary
As a result, a newlywed couple can have a marital name distinct from their given name. One must go through the name change process to officially change their name. In some cultures, children are given their mother’s maiden name as their middle name.
How to Find a Woman’s Maiden Name?
The natal surname of a lady is her maiden name. A woman’s maiden name is kept until she marries. She can then keep it or take her husband’s surname. If Mary Smith marries John Jones, she can keep her maiden name and take on her husband’s surname by changing her name to Mary Jones.
Women have traditionally married into their husbands’ surnames. As a result, tracing a woman’s maiden name isn’t always straightforward. Your search may be ended if you can’t find these names. To find her maiden name, look for her marriage record or the birth certificate of one of her children.
Identifying a Woman by Her Maiden Name
Because Smith is the maiden name, Née Smith, Mary Jones, is frequently suggested. The word née derives from the French verb naître, “to generate.”
Typically, her maiden name was. Because Elizabeth Dammant married William Barker and later Samuel Cole, the mother’s maiden name on the birth certificate was erroneous. Even if it wasn’t true, her daughter Harriet’s birth certificate stated Barker’s identity as her maiden name.
Note: The parents’ and mother’s maiden names are listed on a birth certificate. The father’s name was frequently deleted from an illegitimate child’s birth certificate, leaving just the mother’s name and surname.
First Name as a Maiden Name
This procedure might be more difficult if your men’s ancestor was John Smith. Make sure you’ve located someone before adding them to your tree.
For example, the 1881 Census revealed that Isaac Dunkley married Jane, had children between 1867 and 1876, and resided in Roade, Northamptonshire. Using this information, I deduced that they married between 1860 and 1867, focusing my search on this period. Then I used FreeBMD to enter the search results.
I checked my grandfather Herbert Dunkley’s birth, marriage, and death records to be sure. And discovered that the mother’s surname was Jannett in the January-March quarter of 1867. My grandmother’s maiden name.
Summary
According to this research, only one record of Isaac Dunkley partnering with Jane Jannett in April 1864. Returning to Ancestry, searching for Isaac Dunkley’s spouse Jane Jannett in Courteenhall, Northamptonshire, A tiny village near Roade, gave only one result on September 26, 1864.
Read Bible To Consider Mother’s Maiden Name
Family bibles can sometimes help determine the mother’s maiden name. Family, for instance, has a family bible presented on her birth anniversary to Mary Florence Adams.
Her wedding period was in front with the delivery anniversaries, and the names of her kids (with surnames) were on the back, identifying it as my great-bible. grandmother’s
On December 16, 1893, Mary Florence Adams wedded Henry Thomas Richardson. (Mary had changed her wedding time by one year as she married, was pregnant).
Why Do Married Females Use Their Maiden Names?
Following marriage, more and more women opt not to take their husband’s surname. The trend peaked in the 1970s, but it had faded by the mid-1980s and 1990s. However, the trend appears to be rebounding as of 2015, as more women prefer to keep their maiden names for various reasons.
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A practical explanation, rather than a political one, is possible. Women who marry but keep their maiden names avoid dealing with the paperwork required to formally change their terms in government agencies and organizations.
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It’s possible that changing their online identity will make it more difficult for their old friends to find them. It may also confuse, such as when couples marry, and one of the members of one ethnic group assumes the name of another ethnic group.
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Second, the feminist movement encourages women to keep their maiden names. Why should women be subjected to so much more paperwork filing to take their husband’s name if men have historically been excused from having to change their names on paper?
Some women see taking their husband’s name as a loss of autonomy. According to a Google Consumer Survey, 20% of women keep their maiden names. In comparison, 10% hyphenate their names to gain their husband’s name while using their maiden name without facing legal consequences.
Summary
However, times have changed, and many women can now choose to keep or change their given names if they do not adhere to traditional gender roles. According to statistics, successful women with high earnings in urban settings are more likely to keep their maiden names than change them to their husbands.
How to Find a Lady’s Maiden Name Before 1837
Tracing a lady’s maiden name before 1837 may be more difficult. Before the advent of civil registration on July 1, 1837, parish registers were the only source of information. Certain parish records, such as Suffolk and Kirton’s vicar in the 18th century, are far more extensive, containing certain vicars and a girl’s surname in a baptismal entry.
Some vicars went even farther, with William Dade, a Yorkshire priest in the seventeenth century, believing that the record should contain as much information as possible. More information is in these registers, including the following:
Find a Lady’s Maiden Name Before 1837
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The Child’s Name
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The child’s seniority: whether they are the firstborn, etc.
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Father’s Name Father’s Profession
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Place of Residence The names, occupations, and residences of the father’s parents
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Mother’s Given Name
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Profession of Mother, if she had one ever
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Mother’s parents’ occupations, addresses, and names
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Child’s birth date and baptismal
It is possible to locate a wedding document several years (even weeks!!) before the first child’s christening. Even if you’ve found the marriage certificate, it’s a good idea to take down the names of the wedding parties because this may lead to discovering other siblings you were previously unaware of.
Where did the term “maiden name” originate?
The term “maiden name” was first used in a 1663 publican named The Ultimum Vale by John Fuller, according to Quora. A passage from the book is as follows: “She was born in Canterbury, and her maiden name is Mary Modders, and she was recently imprisoned at Dover-castle.”
Before this, the word maiden surname was used in Thomas Fuller’s 1665 work, British church background from the coming of Christ through M.DC.XLVIII. “Jesuits blame her for leaving her husband at home and listening to gospel and chattering about it in court, always referring to herself by her maiden surname rather than her married one,” writes this poem.
According to Etymonline, the term maiden has been used to refer to an unmarried lady since Old English. As a result, the term “maiden name” derives from the term’s original definition.
Keep in mind: The term “maiden name” generally refers to a woman’s last name before marriage. This is also known as her maiden name or family name, and it is frequently changed after marriage. However, it is becoming more common for women to keep their surnames after marriage or to hyphenate their surname with their spouses to form a new family name.
How to Switch to Your Maiden Name Legally?
Following a divorce, many persons whose names changed understandably want to revert to their maiden surname. If you’re set on reverting to your maiden name, do the following steps:
Request a “request for a name change” or “request to restore the maiden name” on the divorce documents. If you need help filling out these forms, contact a divorce attorney. Make sure your final divorce decree clearly states your name change.
Using the divorce certificate or decree, change your name at the Administration of Social Security (SSA), Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and other agencies.
If you desire to change your name later, you must obtain a court order by filling out and submitting a name change request form on your state’s court website. Then you must pay the appropriate fee. You must provide your Social Security Number (SSN) and photo identification as part of this process.
Summary
When it’s time to marry, don’t let society’s expectations that you must give up your maiden name and take your husband’s make you feel limited. While your husband may have a preference, you have the legal right to choose which name you will use for the rest of your life (or as long as the marriage lasts).
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs
People ask many questions about the mother’s maiden name. We discussed a few of them below:
1 - What is an example of a mother’s maiden name?
Before she marries and takes her husband’s surname, a woman’s maiden name, as her surname, for example, a woman named Sarah Jones had a maiden name of Jones before marrying and changing her name to Sarah Stein. The name by which a married woman was known before her marriage
2 - What is the maiden name of your mother?
The parents’ surname is a marital maiden’s name, which she used before marriage and assumed her husband’s surname. She resumed her maiden name of Boreman after the marriage ended in divorce.
3 - Is the maiden name first or last? :
The surname of a person who takes their spouse’s last name before marriage, primarily a married or divorced woman’s surname before the wedding. Following her divorce, she restored her maiden name.
4 - Is my maiden name the same as my mother’s?
The mother’s name appears on the identity paper as First, Middle, and Last (Maiden). In other words, the last name given to her at the time of her birth will appear on her birth certificate.
5 - What is the proper way to write your maiden name?
A woman’s maiden name is referred to as nee or née. Jackie Kennedy, née Bouvier, alluding to her maiden name, is an example of née.
6 - May I have two surnames?
Although it is legal to use two surnames, it is uncommon. Children traditionally take their father’s (or, more recently, their mother’s) surname. Either partner or both can take on a new moniker. Depending on their family’s foreign naming history, children may also obtain surnames based on their grandparents’ surnames.
7 - Is the middle name the maiden name of the mother?
The mother’s maiden surname is placed between the given and surnames (father’s surnames) and is frequently abbreviated to signify that they are “middle names.”
8 - What do you call a marital lady who keeps her maiden name?
The mother’s maiden surname is placed between the given and surnames (father’s surnames) and is frequently abbreviated to signify that they are “middle names.”
9 - How do I determine a person’s maiden name?
A woman’s maiden name can be found on most church marriage paperwork. The mother’s maiden name is also typically included in baptism and christening records. You might be able to find the maiden name you’re looking for if you know the child’s name and have access to the child’s baptism or christening paperwork.
10 - Can I find out if someone is married in the United Kingdom?
Searching online utilizing a private database is the simplest way to locate marriage records in the United Kingdom. Government agencies are the first to retain marriage records and other vital information, and contacting these authorities is another effective means of getting marriage records in the United Kingdom.
11 - What is the best way to recognize a woman by her maiden name?
A marriage record is the greatest place to look for a woman’s maiden name (both civil and religious). Licenses, banns, bonds, and permission affidavits are among the records available. A Bann is an announcement of an upcoming marriage traditionally made in church three Sundays in a row.
12 - If I’m not married, what is my maiden name?
What is the meaning of a maiden name? A woman’s maiden name is her legal name from the time she is born until she marries. The term “maiden” refers to an unmarried female.
13 - Is your maiden name your first or last name?
A married woman’s maiden name is her parents’ surname, which she used before marrying and switching to her husband’s surname.
14 - Is your middle name the same as your mother’s?
The mother’s maiden surname is added between the given name and the surname (father’s surname), and it is often abbreviated to indicate that it is a “middle name.”
15 - Is it possible for a middle name to be the same as the mother’s surname?
Yes, if he uses his father’s surname because everyone in his family uses the same surname. This does not imply that he can just use his surname. He or she should be able to use his or her mother’s name as a middle name with equal rights.
Conclusion
A person’s maiden name is a family name or surname they keep after marrying. In some nations, changing one’s name necessitates legal action. However, a married or divorced person may change their name in several jurisdictions. Even if it is legal, changing one’s name without going through a formal process is rarely accepted before marriage (particularly for women).