What name do you give a wife in a family tree when you do not know the maiden name?

Answer 1

ROFL!! nice to drop in this a.m. and have a laugh. Persons responding in this area don't always realize that 'we' are often talking about a marriage from 100 yrs ago, or more.
There are ways to indicate that you don't have that info, ie (?) or unknown. I remember one person using the abbreviation UNK for unknown, which led to posting "I am looking for info about the UNK family".
It can be left blank. Unknown maiden names are kind of SOP in genealogy. That's "standard operating procedure", not the SOP family.

Answer 2

I believe it can also depend on whether you're creating this family tree on paper or using some form of genealogy software (i.e. Legacy, Ancestry.com, etc.)

Nowadays the more common and accepted format is to leave the maiden name blank. If you're using software with an AKA field you would then add any other names (including her married name) in that field and provide sources for the alternate names.

If you ARE using software to enter your family tree information I would highly recommend "Getting it Right" by Mary H. Slawson. It's a great guide that covers this and many other questions on how to properly record your family history so that others can understand it appropriately in the future.

Answer 3

Give her the married name. Check out ancestry.com. You can do a family tree there and get a two week free membership to trace back your roots. A lot of fun! You have access to censuses and birth/death/marriage records. The censuses will list all members of a household so sometimes you can get maiden names. Also if other people in the world have started a tree then you can get info from them and tie into their tree.

Answer 4

As a third generation geneologist, who has helped find my family history back before the Norman Conquest, what we usually do is (if a female has no known surname) is put her first name, and leave the last name blank. "Doe" is fine on modern public records, but is extremely confusing when looking through old record with derivations of the name "Doe" in (e.g.) Middle English.

An example: one would look for "Elizabeth, wife of John Pritchard, Sussex, England, b. 1350" (or whatever), where 1350 is John's birth date, not Elizabeth's.

Answer 5

When Ancestry.com only furnishes the wife's first name, I usually leave the space for the last name blank. Occasionally, Ancestry.com will then provide clues for her missing maiden names if the space is left blank, or else I will discover her maiden name at another web site.

Answer 6

Proper genealogy input for this problem is:
Not Named with last name if known.
First and middle name if known then Not named as surname.
Be sure your strike marks(/) are in the correct places or it will mess up your alphabetical name list.
Example: Not Named/Jones
Mary Ann/Not named

Answer 7

I usually put the married name in brackets, e.g. if husband is "Jim Smith", wife is "Jane (Smith)". Helps me identify her in the alphabetic index, but makes it clear that wasn't her maiden name.

Answer 8

You can just leave the space blank, or write it like this:

Susan (Unknown) or Susan (?)

Then later if you are able to discover the name, you simply change it.

Answer 9

You married someone without knowing their last name? That's virtually impossible, it'll be on your marriage certificate.

Answer 10

wow about asking her what her maiden name is? or ask her husband or children. if you cant find out that way you will have to put unknown which is kinda rude, if you ask me.