Skip to content
  • Log In
  • Sign Up
  • Start your family tree
  1. Blog Home
  2. Discoveries
Marriage record discoveries

Weird and wonderful names found in marriage records

The Findmypast team
29 January 2020

We've found Romeo marrying Juliet and everything in between, but the question is: are these names for better or worse?

We've rummaged through our marriage records and discovered entries that prove an embarrassing name doesn't put everyone off their betrothed.

Search marriage records

Here is a selection of the names we found in the records:

Keeping up with the Mary Christmases


Christmas marriage

There are over 400 Mary Christmases in our marriage records. The earliest recorded Mary Christmas married in 1719 in Oxford and gained the new surname Ring. On a slightly related note, ever wondered why there used to be so many Christmas Day weddings?

Where for art thou?

We've discovered a pair of real star-crossed lovers in our marriage records: in 1971, a Romeo married a Juliet in Lambeth, London.

Were Romeo and Juliet married

We also found the marriage records of Oscar Fingal Wilde and Constance Lloyd in Kensington, London in 1884, Jude Law and Sadie Frost in Westminster, London in 1997 and Kate Winslet and Jim Threapleton, in Reading, Berkshire in 1998.

With this record I thee wed

Our family research found that the most popular county to get married in was Lancashire, with 11.66 million records listed between 1837 and 2005. London followed closely behind with 11.62 million.

The five most popular cities to be married in over the same time period were:

  1. Birmingham, Warwickshire with 1,656,516 marriages recorded
  2. Manchester, Lancashire with 1,127,584 marriages recorded
  3. Sheffield, Yorkshire with 988,541 marriages recorded
  4. Leeds, Yorkshire with 980,207 marriages recorded
  5. Bristol, Somerset with 899,885 marriages recorded

When you explore Findmypast's marriage records, our clever MarriageFinder™ will match up your ancestors' records, providing you with one definite marriage match, or at least a small list of possible matches. This is hugely helpful when, for example, a maiden name eludes you.

Feeling inspired to discover your own family's marriage records? When you start a family tree on Findmypast, we'll help you unlock family love stories in a matter of moments with hints, our clever clues to your past.

Made amazing matrimonial discoveries of your own in marriage records? We'd love to hear what you've found over on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.