You were sure his name was “Wild Bill Hickok” and he was alive in 1870 perhaps in the Dakota Territory. [name, date, location]. Perhaps you didn’t know that his legal name was James Butler Hickok, born in Illinois in 1837. (Wikipedia) The “Bill” came from his brother’s name. Any William may also be called Bill, Willie or Will.
Carol Darrow
You may spend time searching for William Elmer Smith only to find out that he was always called Elmer Smith. Or you may find that the two-year-old child listed in the 1880 census as Claudius Maximus Smith was always called Max Smith in later records. Sometimes you can get clues from his obituary or by collecting several censuses to see how his name evolved. Legal papers such as a will or a deed may give you his full name.
Many people were named for famous people, such as George Washington Smith (George W. Smith in the census) or Benjamin Franklin Smith (Ben F. Smith in the census). The famous person may not be famous to you, including Lorenzo Dow (an American evangelist and preacher) and Charles Pinckney (commonly spelled Pinkney), a signer of the U.S. Constitution from South Carolina.
Nicknames may present other problems. A girl named Elizabeth may be listed on various documents as Eliza, Betty, Betsy, Bess, Beth, Ellie, Libby or Lizzie. Margaret may go by Maggie, Margery, or even Peggy. Caroline may be called Carrie. Charlotte may be called Lottie. Men named John may go by Jack – or in ethnic groups Jean, Johann, Ivan, Sean, or Ian.
Connecting people between their legal name and their nicknames may present a problem but you can educate yourself. Search on Google.com or check a Baby Naming Book for some alternatives. A “nickname” may even be the legal or baptismal name of a person.
~ Register for Carol Darrow’s ZOOM classes on Beginning Genealogy and the WriteNOW family history writing group at www.cogensoc.us website.