DBE 724 and self-contradictory naming policy for infants

Question

According to the official name field guidelines, "If an infant died before he or she could be named, use what is on their death record according to their conventions, otherwise use Unnamed Infant." This would mean that if a death certificate has the words "Baby Smith" where the name is supposed to go, the profile's name should be Baby Smith. Likewise, if the place where the name is supposed to be written on the death certificate is completely blank or has only the last name, the profile should have the name Unnamed Infant Smith.

Two weeks ago, I created a profile with the name "Baby Menifee," which is what appeared on the death certificate. However, the word "Baby" generates error 724 for a wrong word in the first name. A Data Doctor changed the first name to "Unnamed Infant" (even though I had already dismissed the error two days earlier). Is it okay for me to change it back, and should "Baby" and similar words likely to appear on infants' death certificates maybe be removed from the list of wrong words?

On a related note, although not relevant in this exact case, I also noticed that the name policy for deceased infants goes on to say, "Do not use Infant Boy, Baby Girl, etc. There is a Sex at Birth field for this." However, this would contradict the sentence I quoted above if the death record calls the child "Infant Boy Smith" or "Baby Girl Smith." Does this mean that you should use whatever is written on the death record unless it mentions the baby's gender?

Comments

In the situation you describe, it would be helpful if the profile text  indicated that her name on the death certificate was Baby Menifee. This could be done in the biography text or in the source citation, or both. We can't assume that Data Doctors will look up the linked source to discover that "Baby" was recorded on the death certificate.

In this case, "Baby" did appear in the citation, so I suppose it may be necessary to also mention it in the biography text.

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As a Data Doctor, I promise to look at the death cert--any info available--before I would change this field. This is why I'm a slowpoke with few contributions. This is a great question and discussion.

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I like slowpokes, but that doesn't change the fact that relevant information found in cited sources should be included in the biography.

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Yes! This practice will slow me down only by a very little bit. I'll mention such a thing in my own tree's little stillborn babes should there be a descriptive "first name" for the baby in the death record.

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Thank you to everyone who has responded. I have restored the name and added a note about what the death certificate says.

Answer 1

I agree that the guidelines aren't clear. I understand the sentence you quote in the first paragraph as the policy, and the other sentences as illustrating ways people often don't follow the policy. But that isn't explicit in the guidelines and I could be wrong.

But, following my understanding, I dismiss suggestions as false suggestions, and restore the names as they are present on death records (usually citing the guidelines in my explanation of the change).

Comments

I would do the same as Harry, restore the documented name and mark the suggestion as false.

I would defer to the name recorded on the death certificate, if I considered it a reasonable name, and I did not have any other documentation for the infant's name.

Answer 2

For simplicity and consistency I think that all unnamed infants be entered in the data base first name field as "Unnamed Infant" and then if more information is available it should be included in the biographical text field with accompanying sources.

Comments

And guidelines should be drafted to read as such.

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We don't know for certain that Baby and similar names aren't actual given names from just a death certificate.

We need to use some common sense to decide if the recorded name is reasonable (Baby, Baby Girl would be reasonable to me) or less than reasonable (Infant Boy, child of [father's name], stillborn).

When in doubt, follow the source within the guidelines and your own common sense. Expect anyone who changes the name to provide a reasonable explanation for the change.

Suggestions can be marked as false.

That's my method!