In English legal history, a married woman was “covered” under her husband, who was authorized to act in their shared interests. This concept called “coverture” explains why a woman in England and former English colonies like the U.S. took her husband’s surname, and often was known only by her husband’s name (Mrs. John Smith) instead of either her first name or her maiden name.

And, thanks to this system, women have sometimes disappeared from history.

Genealogy seeks to reclaim them, to help their own names to resurface. After all, you usually can’t find maternal grandparents if you don’t know the mother’s maiden name.

In a recent lecture I gave, I mentioned some resources that can help us find a woman’s maiden name. Some major outlets include some hints:

A FamilySearch blog suggests, among other things, digging deeper into the history and documents of a woman’s husband. Maybe he lived next door to his wife’s brother, or went into business with her father. Surnames repeated frequently in a man’s documents might point to a wife’s surname.

An article online from FamilyTree Magazine suggests the first records to check for clues to a woman’s maiden name should be:

• her death certificate might list her father’s full name
• the birth certificates of her children might list her maiden name
• newspaper clippings of a wedding announcement not only would mention her maiden name but also her parents’ names
• marriage licenses will list her maiden name if she had not been previously married, but if she was widowed or divorced, she would be married again under that name, not her maiden name

And an article from Price Genealogy reminds us to include land records and military pension records.

When entering names in FamilySearch, only enter in as much as you know. If you know her first name but only her married name, only enter in her first name, not her married name. Only enter “Mrs (title) Smith” if you have no clue of her own first or last name.

Reach out if you want help finding women in your family tree. facebook, linkedin, this website “contact me” or direct email Sarah at research your roots dot com.