The deeper I dive into the genealogical realm the more I encounter tugs of war over certain ancestors' surnames. Specifically, I refer to the Godwin-Goodwin bottleneck. Many Godwins claim ancestors as theirs while many Goodwins do the same -- both over the same individual. Unfortunately, the correct surname can only be one or the other, but proving it is sometimes daunting, illusive or impossible.

I've been doing a white paper on my theories about why there is so much confusion and what factors may have contributed to it. I have references dating from 555 AD/CE to the present. The reason I write about this today is due to a dream I had last night about the Godwin-Goodwin dilemma and how it helped me decide on a final title for my paper.

Originally I was going to entitle it: Pedigrees and Credentials.

Now I'm going to entitle it: Pedisagrees and Credentures.