Please help me solve this mystery!

[shadowlily]

I have been researching my family tree and continually hitting brick walls. I think I may have discovered why this is, it seems one of my ancestors changed his surname entirely.
I found his birth record, then his marriage record (my female ancestor had a pretty unique name, luckily, so she is the reason I have been able to trace the family through time!) but by the birth of their first child just over a year later the whole family have changed their surname. They have then used this surname ever since (in the census etc) but their death record states the original surname again. I have searched newspaper archives, crime records, prison records etc to see if I can find a reason why they may have changed their names so suddenly- but no luck. It was my grandad's grandad who first changed his name and my grandad has a memory of being told (when some relatives were coming) that they might say his surname was X but that it wasn't true and to remember his surname is Y, which is really mystifying! This makes it sound more like a family secret or covering something up. He can't remember asking more about this! His dad died when he was very young, so he has limited memories of him.

I wondered if anyone has had similar experiences in their own family tree or any suggestions about why this might be or tips for how I might find out!

My first thought was some form of persecution?
We’re they immigrants? Did they fee they needed to fit in?
Could it be religious related?
Maybe there was a famous murderer linked to the name?

What was the name and year it changed?

Certainly looks like they changed it to be known by but still had the original.

Did they stay in the same area?

Local. Family History Societies are always a wealth of knowledge. Or your Local Studies based in libraries. Mine has been very helpful even in lockdown.

Either to fit in if they were immigrants ans struggling or because there was a crime and they didn’t wish to be associated with it.

Lots of people changed names during WW1 to avoid being identified as German. It may have happened at other times too.
I've got a family where the parents didn't marry until the children were nearly adults and they all switch around between surnames all the time.
The other things might be to avoid debt collectors or persecution as pp said. Or it could be a bit of social climbing.

So many helpful ideas already- thank you so much!

It was in the 1880s (that they first changed their name) and they weren't immigrants. They swapped a very common English name for an equally common English name! Baffling!

I've tried to find associations for either the old or new name, but can't find anything that seems at all linked or relevant!

I know someone who did this because the man she lived with was already married but she wanted to be Mrs Hisname. Not sure if that would fit in with what you know though!

Can you tell us either of the names?

Maybe the original name acquired bad connotations?

I'd rather not give the new surname as it is my family name now used today, so I'd rather it wasn't linked to my account.

But the old surname was Millar, in some documentation alternatively spelt Miller.

Hmmm...there was a murderer with that name that might possibly be a reason to change but maybe too early?
www.victorianlondon.org/crime/chelseamurder.htm

That's so interesting, thanks Gerla!

I think it might be a bit too early though, as I know they continued to use the name until 1882 or 83 at least. I do think it must have been something like that that prompted the change though.

In a book it would be a legacy connected to the alternative name (ie spinster Great-Aunt Miss Wibble says she will leave her whole £200 to her great-nephew, on the condition he changes his name to Wibble because she is the last of her line?)

@RubaiyatOfAnyone

In a book it would be a legacy connected to the alternative name (ie spinster Great-Aunt Miss Wibble says she will leave her whole £200 to her great-nephew, on the condition he changes his name to Wibble because she is the last of her line?)

I wondered about this! However, I can't see any one in the family at all with any connection to the newly assumed name. I tried looking at the census to see neighbours etc too and there's been no links that I've uncovered so far.

Did they do anything else significant at that time? Move?
What about the rest of the family? Anyone else change names?
What about other locals with the new name?
I've come across people wanting new starts before or those where it looks like there been a fallout and they've started to use another family name instead.

Another interesting element I should have said is he also changed his middle names extensively, which seems very odd and suspicious too.His first name is always the same, but on the birth certificate of each child he uses different middle names for himself every time! First name, random middle name, random middle name, assumed new surname- on each birth certificate for each child. Same first name and surname but totally different middle names. Their mother's name is the exact same on every certificate (but also with the assumed surname). They were quite a well off, middle class family so I can't think what they were trying to hide from.

The wife keeping the same name made them easier to track down too (that's the only way I could track them!) as she has such an unusual middle name. You'd think if they were trying to avoid detection they would have stopped using her middle name on all of the documentation? Her first name was Ann, so very inconspicuous! But her middle name was unique and so makes her stand out amongst the millions of other "Ann's"

@GrimDamnFanjo

Did they do anything else significant at that time? Move? What about the rest of the family? Anyone else change names? What about other locals with the new name? I've come across people wanting new starts before or those where it looks like there been a fallout and they've started to use another family name instead.

They have stayed in the same area throughout, and relatives sometimes live with them on various census's so they don't seem to have been "hidden." The person in question (who originally changed name) seems to have been an only child, but the generations before seem to have stuck with the original name. There's quite sparse documentation the further back I go though.

I can't find any one else local with the same name that seem to have any connection to them e.g. living close by etc. I do wonder if the "fall out" theory has some traction though, because during my hunt I found the death certificate for Ann and she was alive during my grandad's lifetime but he was always told she was dead, and so he never knew her, but she did not actually die until far, far later on than he thought. However, that wouldn't have explained the name change as that would have happened a good 50 years before, before they had any children at all, so any fall out would have had to have been with the preceeding generation rather than the subsequent generation and there doesn't seem to be any evidence of one as the older generation moved in with them and was cared for by them in their old age (judging by the census!)

Have you found your ancestor prior to his name change on the census records? How old was he when he married? What was his occupation?

I can't help wondering whether he lived elsewhere prior to the marriage for work, or possibly in the armed forces, and married someone else. He could then have abandoned her, come home, married under his usual surname as a bachelor (because nobody at home knew he was already married), and then promptly started using a different surname. Just in case his first wife tried to find him.

Wild stab in the dark, but you never know.

I cannot help you, but I can share experiences.

My great-grandfather, who allegedly walked down from Liverpool to Bucks to seek work. Well, he definitely moved south but he also changed his surname entirely from something uncommon to something very common. A cousin contacted me from the rest of his family, so we took DNA and confirmed we are related. No idea what prompted the name change, we've hunted local newspapers extensively.

DH great-grandfather and great-grandmother had two children, both who died in infancy; they then changed his full name entirely, and her surname (ironically to that of a BIL) but continued to live in the same house so trackable; had two further children. As he was a pre-war naval deserter and this was around the time of conscription, I think he was trying to avoid repercussions. He was conscripted for the army but failed the medical. Again, this change of name has been confirmed through DNA matching.

And this weekend I've found that great-grandfather's sister married somebody else who changed their name! It's noted on his naval service record, presumably after being killed in action, that his family advised of a different name ... but that different name also didn't exist four years previously, so this chap had used at least three names!! What I'd like to know is whether she knew and, if she did, did she plant the idea in DH great-grandfather's head?

Could be that they got into debt and wanted to not be found. Or some sort of family incident that they wanted to be distanced from. At that time, a lot of things we consider perfectly normal were really quite scandalous. Did the name change happen around the time of their marriage? Perhaps one was already married and changed the name to commit bigamy. I love genealogy!

Are you on an Ancestry Facebook group? Lots of experts there who would willingly help you

How about Ann marries Mr Millar/Miller in 1882, but leaves him shortly afterwards for another man, Mr X, with the same first name, but different middle names. She's not married to Mr X, but calls all her children by the surname X. However, legally they are illegitimate, so although they are known as X, they are actually legally Millers.

I had a quick look, and may not have the right people, but in the 1901 census, Mr X is shown as being born in Kingston upon Thames. But Ann marries someone who looks like they were baptised in Clandon in Surrey but whose parents are living in Radridge in Oxon.

I doubt it's not wanting to be found if they kept the same address though. It feels odd because neighbours or servants must have noticed the same change, presuming a literate middle class family. Is Millar jewish at all? I'm just wondering about any antisemitic feeling at the time. I presume there are no instances of (your current surname) appearing elsewhere in your family tree? My money's on bigamy with divorce being so difficult to achieve. Family fall out over living unmarried etc

A distance relative changed his name because he got a girlfriend pregnant and didn't want her to be able to find him; not sure if I have the exact story but they're all dead now.

This was obviously back before computers and stuff.

So excited by all of these "what if's" and "maybes." It's amazing what you can discover from so long ago and feel connected to ancestors's lives and experiences!

Thank you to everyone who has shared their ideas and their own stories- I find it so fascinating!

They were 20/21 when they got married, I can't find any hint of any previous partner, child, pregnancy etc but I think something like that could be well hidden so perhaps it's unlikely I would find anything like that. It's a shame the census is so infrequent, so much seems to change between each one!

I think it must be the same person, and not her going off with someone else, because the date of birth/location is still the same so I'd imagine it's therefore the same person. If it was someone new, why the different middle names for each child? All very bizarre!

I wasn't aware of any Jewish heritage, but it seems I wasn't aware of many things in my family history so I'm not ruling anything out!