Which Name to Choose and Use?

Don't we all find ancestors whose names vary from document to document (and sometimes in the same document)?  The decision becomes which name to use.  How best to refer to an individual when three or four names appear across the span of the individual's life?  When I began family history research I used the name given on the birth record, if there was one, but now I'm not so sure that's the best choice.  Any thoughts?

The reality of making a decision about which name to use was brought home to me when I saw that another researcher had eliminated one of my collateral relatives on FamilySearch in favor of an individual with a similar but different first name.  All the information seemed accurate, only the first name was different (and, of course the ID number).  In the documents listed, the alternate name had been used only twice, compared to the six or eight times the other name (my original choice of name) had been used.  

Lana Ellen Gerner, daughter of Fredrick and Elvira (Bartley) Gerner, is the person of interest today.   The name in bold, below, is the name on the record.  Let's see what the documents show.  (View documents with a free FamilySearch account.)

Laney Gerner
1875 Nov 16.  Birth Record:  Putnam County, West Virginia.  Photocopy held in my records.

Lana E. Gerner
1880.  U.S. Census, Putnam County, West Virginia.

Lana Gerner (becomes Lana Snair)
1896 May 20.  Marriage Record, Butler County, Pennsylvania.  View here.

Lana E. Snair
1900.  U.S. Census, Parker Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania.  View here.

Lena Snair
1910.  U.S. Census, Bruin, Butler, Pennsylvania.  View here.

Lana E. Snair
1920.  U.S. Census, Bruin, Butler, Pennsylvania.  View here.

Lana Snair
1940.  U.S. Census, Steubenville, Jefferson, Ohio.  View here.

Lana Ellen Snair
1943.  Death, Ohio Death Certificate.  View here.

Lana Snare
1943.  Obituary in The Butler Eagle, Monday, August 30, 1943.  Photocopy in my possession.

Lena Snair
1944.  Ohio marriage record of her son, Gilmore Snair.  View here.

Of these ten documents, two record her name as Lena, one uses Laney, and the other seven use Lana.  I think it makes sense to use Lana.

When you've found several given names, how do you choose the name to use when adding an individual to your genealogy program?

-–Nancy.

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