Before I got my driver's license at 16 I had always spelled my middle name "Gean". My mother taught me to spell it that way because she had named me after Gene Fowler, a neighbor who she was sweet on and who had died in the Korean War. My father had given me my first name and he had chosen the name of one of his former girlfriends. I was never given a good explanation for these choices from either of them, but I assume it could have been because the child they had previous to my birth died as an infant and I think they gave me a "throw away" name from their pasts (just in case). At least that is how I explain it to myself.

When I applied for a birth certificate to get my license, I discovered that whoever had filled it out (parents weren't given the option back then) had spelled my name with the traditional feminine spelling of "Jean." I felt cheated but I started spelling my middle name with a J after that because it was a lot easier at the time than trying to correct the record.

My husband ran into the same issue with his birth certificate. His middle name was LeRoy
(pronounced Le Roy) but it came out on the birth certificate as Leroy (pronounced Lee roy). He too was forced to accept a name which he did not feel was his own. So I have chosen to make those two names my username. In an effort to preserve some of our parents' intentions, we also have had the original spellings inscribed on our headstone (which we have already purchased and placed but which, thankfully, have not had to use yet). Should decades from now someone wonder why our names are "misspelled" on the stone...no, we did it on purpose because it should have been that way all along, and as far as I know, headstones are not legal documents.

I am a contributor to this website because I want to preserve my families' history. (I've been around long enough now to recognize how much gets lost and confused over time.) I want to preserve what I can for future family members.

Before I got my driver's license at 16 I had always spelled my middle name "Gean". My mother taught me to spell it that way because she had named me after Gene Fowler, a neighbor who she was sweet on and who had died in the Korean War. My father had given me my first name and he had chosen the name of one of his former girlfriends. I was never given a good explanation for these choices from either of them, but I assume it could have been because the child they had previous to my birth died as an infant and I think they gave me a "throw away" name from their pasts (just in case). At least that is how I explain it to myself.

When I applied for a birth certificate to get my license, I discovered that whoever had filled it out (parents weren't given the option back then) had spelled my name with the traditional feminine spelling of "Jean." I felt cheated but I started spelling my middle name with a J after that because it was a lot easier at the time than trying to correct the record.

My husband ran into the same issue with his birth certificate. His middle name was LeRoy
(pronounced Le Roy) but it came out on the birth certificate as Leroy (pronounced Lee roy). He too was forced to accept a name which he did not feel was his own. So I have chosen to make those two names my username. In an effort to preserve some of our parents' intentions, we also have had the original spellings inscribed on our headstone (which we have already purchased and placed but which, thankfully, have not had to use yet). Should decades from now someone wonder why our names are "misspelled" on the stone...no, we did it on purpose because it should have been that way all along, and as far as I know, headstones are not legal documents.

I am a contributor to this website because I want to preserve my families' history. (I've been around long enough now to recognize how much gets lost and confused over time.) I want to preserve what I can for future family members.