Birth name

A birth name is the name a person is given when they are born. This can include the surname, the given name, or the complete name. In places where births are recorded, the full birth name is written down on a birth certificate. This name often becomes the person's legal name because it is the official record of who they are from the start. Birth names are important because they help identify and connect families.

Maiden and married names

Main article: Maiden and married names

Sometimes a person’s name changes after they get married. We have special words to remember their original name. For women, we use “née,” and for men, we use “né.” These words mean “born” and help us know what someone’s name was before marriage.

For example, if Ann Jones marries and changes her name to Ann Smith, we might write “Ann Smith, née Jones” to show her original surname. The same goes for men: “Adam Smith, né Jones” would mean Adam’s birth surname was Jones and he now uses Smith. These words come from French and are usually placed after the current surname.