Women's and Men's Nicknames
So, you thought great grandpa's birthname was Ned Johnson and grandmas were Maggie A Johnson (Smith was actually Edward "Ned" Johnson and Margaret "Maggie" Ann Johnson (Smith).
The importance of knowing name variations is finding documentation and lineages. Maggie Smith may be listed as Margaret Anne Smith with her parents, not Maggie, and vice versa. If her birth dates, death dates, and other details match.
Back in the days before birth certificates, driver's licenses for identification, and stricter standards were put in place, the use of nicknames makes it difficult to trace ancestry, but important for everyone to know the name variations.
Mary was "Mollie" Margaret "Maggie" Sarah "Sally" Eleanor or Helen was "Nellie",
Clementine was various names; "Tiny" "Tynne" "Clemmie" etc Then the men.....
.[ https://www.romper.com/p/15-baby-names-from-the-1800s-that-have-the...]
