"Hester/Hetty" in civil records, "Kitty" in church records.

oceanclub

https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Connelly-995

My great-great-grandmothers seems to have used the name Kitty in church records (her marriage and her children's baptisms) while using Hetty or Hester in civil records. Anyone venture why?

P.

pedroeibar1

Are you sure you have the correct people? Kitty is short for C/Katherine. ‘Hetty’ is a long distance from that, usually from Henriettta, although it often is Hester or Esther. Those names generally are more C of I than RC.

oceanclub

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Are you sure you have the correct people? Kitty is short for C/Katherine. ‘Hetty’ is a long distance from that, usually from Henriettta, although it often is Hester or Esther. Those names generally are more C of I than RC.

Almost 100% - for example, you can see a birth record for a child using Hester/Hetty, then a corresponding baptism with Kitty.

P.

Waitsian

She was Catherine Henrietta or vice versa? My mother is known by different people, and on different documents, by both her first and middle names.

VirginiaB

Kitty and Hetty would look a lot alike in handwriting. It's possible the writing is the issue. Capital H and K are often confused by transcribers and we won't even discuss vowels. 
She may also have had several nicknames and a formal name.  All possible.  And there are lots of Catholic females named Esther in the 1911 census--3,068 to be exact--and a mere 865 COI.  That surprised me too tho my 3x great-grandmother was a Catholic Esther.
177 Catholics named Hester and 273 COI names Hester. How I love that site.

oceanclub

VirginiaB wrote: »

Kitty and Hetty would look a lot alike in handwriting. It's possible the writing is the issue. Capital H and K are often confused by transcribers and we won't even discuss vowels. 
She may also have had several nicknames and a formal name.  All possible.  And there are lots of Catholic females named Esther in the 1911 census--3,068 to be exact--and a mere 865 COI.  That surprised me too tho my 3x great-grandmother was a Catholic Esther.
177 Catholics named Hester and 273 COI names Hester. How I love that site.

Yes, I thought that initially but then the split is so defined - Hester/Hetty for civil, Kitty for church. Maybe we're dealing with a slightly dead old priest

P.

VirginiaB

Or maybe he knew the family well and used the family nickname.  Just a guess--who knows.

BowWow

oceanclub wrote: »

Maybe we're dealing with a slightly dead old priest.