Taking a secod name?

[Essnell]

Hi Rootschatters,

I have recently been going through extended families and DNA matches.  I am finding that a good many individuals were registered and even Baptised / Christened without a second first name but later find they have a acquired a second first name which they used more than their birth name. 

Was it possible that this may have been connected to a Confirmation Ceremony when they took a second name?    or was it common just to decide to have a second name.

It's got me wondering .  It has also made identifying people quite awkward.
comments please  and thanks for ideas. 
Essnell

[Biggles50]

We have the opposite.

Four first names, William Francis Christopher Bell (the Bell after his Paternal Grandmother).

He lost all but the William in later documents, possible because there was not room on the documents to list them all.

You need a magnifying glass to read his Baptism entry.

[Pheno]

Hi Rootschatters,

I have recently been going through extended families and DNA matches.  I am finding that a good many individuals were registered and even Baptised / Christened without a second first name but later find they have a acquired a second first name which they used more than their birth name. 

Was it possible that this may have been connected to a Confirmation Ceremony when they took a second name?    or was it common just to decide to have a second name.

It's got me wondering .  It has also made identifying people quite awkward.
comments please  and thanks for ideas. 
Essnell

Yes it became very popular to have two first names and for those who didn't they simply either used a family name or chose something they liked and continued to use it for the rest of their lives.

Pheno