Name Change And Genealogy

[jocon]

Is there any online resource to check a legal name change? My interest concerns an individual at the beginning of the war (prompted by reference to the 1939 Register). I wonder if it was at all common for a name to be changed from German to English because of the imminent crises.

[jno]

sorry, can't help, but remember you don't necessarily have to go through a legal procedure, you can just call yourself what you like as long as you're not trying to defraud anyone.

[jocon]

Thanks for interest jno - I should really have added "legal or otherwise" - it must have been difficult, to say the least, to get legal matters done quickly in those very early war days.

[jackthehat]

Often the new surname pretty much approximated the german original; Battenberg (german) = Mountbatten (english).

If you have lost track of somebody, it's always worth bearing that^ in mind.

[Old_Geezer]

Not that I know off, but sites like ancestry might give you more info. I think one can call oneself what one wishes as long as no criminal intent is present. I can imagine there could be a fair few who did as you suggested. Unsure it needed to be officially sanctioned, but in the circumstances, hiding it from the authorities might be viewed with suspicion.

[Zacs-Master]

OF

[Zacs-Master]

Just thought I’d save you the bother, OG.

[ladybirder]

LOL Zacs, you beat him to it.

[Old_Geezer]

Other's making the correction doesn't equate to me doing so.

[Zacs-Master]

Snigger.

[ladybirder]

OTHERS

[Zacs-Master]

Haaaaaa!

[Mamyalynne]

Has someone opened the Liqueur Chocolates early?

[jno]

"other's" is correct.

As jackthehat says, Schmidts would be quite likely to become Smiths and so on, if that's any help. I haven't found any online collection of formal name changes but as OG says, a search on Ancestry might find someone who has entered the name change on their own family tree. I'm not sure other genealogy sites offer this facility, though.

[Zacs-Master]

So what’s the ‘ for?

[ladybirder]

Probably means other people. Just when I was having fun!

[jno]

it's a gerund, which you may remember from Nigel Molesworth.

https://matouenpeluche.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554e97d5c88340167619f770a970b-pi

A verbal noun."Sneezing doesn't make a girl unhealthy." "making the correction doesn't equate to me doing so".

So adjectival phrases take an apostrophe where appropriate. "The boy's book." "A girl's sneezing doesn't make her unhealthy." And "Other's making the correction..." (This implies the correction is made by one person, and might be better expressed by "Another's" - if it was by more than one it would be "Others' making the correction...")

All rather Latinate, I agree.

[jocon]

Thanks for replies - even those that strayed off the subject.
I think there were probably lots of ordinary people who anglicised their name to avoid anti-german incidents with neighbours or workmates. I can't find anything online concerning this and I tried this post to see if anyone had personal experience.