indicate aliases and legal name changes

[kmort]

I am very new to building ancestry trees, so please forgive my ignorance.
I have many individuals in my family tree that used several different aliases throughout their lives (first names and last names). I also have several individuals that had their names changed through the courts. Additionally, I would like to make note of the maiden names of married women in the tree. How do I add this type of information with the Ancestris software?

[Zurga]

With Ancestris, you can define this kind of information with multiple NAME.
Use Aries editor or GEDCOM editor to add others names and give a type of them (birth, adoption, recognition,... ).

Zurga

[kmort]

Thank you so much for your help!
Can you tell me more about what the standard is for entering different names? ...this particularly applies to women; should I...
1) enter the main name first, and add maiden name in the "other names" section or
2) enter the maiden name first, and add the married name in the "other names" section?

If I dont know if a different name is due to it being the original on the birth certificate or due to it being a previous marriage, what name type should I choose?

I'm also trying to add in middle names or initials when I know them. For now, I've been adding it in with the first name, but I'm not sure if that is following standards or not. Should I be doing something different?

[Zurga]

Personally, I believe that a woman doesn't change her name when she is married : she just use the name of her husband, but her name remain the maiden one.
That said, the most important point is to do always the same.
Choose a way to do it and stick with it.

I can't answer for you, you are free to do what you want.

For the middle name, the GEDCOM norm doesn't have any tag to store it.
So the ordinary way to do it is to put it in the given name field.

Zurga