(Not a) Nickname

When I was researching my Pearsons in Pulaski County, Illinois, I ran into many issues with what people were named vs. how they identified themselves/how other people referred to them.  For example, my great great grandmother was Emma Katherine.  However, depending on the document, she was E.K., Emma K., Kate E., Catherine, and a plethora of other derivations/variations of her first and middle names.  The same went for her children.  Peyton Eric was usually Eric or P.E., and Daniel Benton was often Ben, sometimes D.B. - and once, Benjamin. Thus, I assumed naming/nicknaming conventions would be similar for Emma's daughter, Nettie M.  

Nettie has been the topic of many posts on this blog, and I doubt this will be the last time she is mentioned.  Well, I looked at the name 'Nettie' and thought, "I highly doubt that's her given name.  I bet it's a nickname for something."  But what?  The internet offered more possibilities than I was expecting. Antoinette, Nanette, Annette, and Jeannette were the most popular suggestions, and I tried all of them and more while looking for Nettie's 1920 census.  I still haven't found it... 

Similarly, I wondered if I might find her under her middle name as was typical of her brothers, Ben and Eric, and sometimes her mother, Kate.  Unfortunately, I had only the middle initial to go on.  Fortunately, it was an 'M,' and I thought to myself that it was very likely that her middle name was Marie.  Oh, how foolish of me to think the simplest answer was the correct answer.  Searching for Marie N. and other such combinations yielded just as little as trying recognized names that typically used Nettie as a nickname.

A few months ago, after much fruitless searching in all other areas, Cuzzin Heather decided to try her luck by requesting the death certificate for one 'Nettie Miller' who had died in Illinois in 1968. It was possible it was "my" Nettie, even though Walter Miller was only her 3rd (possibly 4th) husband, and there were at least two more after him. Imagine my surprise when the following arrived: 

Son: Joseph Miller ✅

Parents: George Pearson and Catherine Green ✅

Legal name: Nettie...Mabel???

Nowhere in this line or any other connected to it have I found another Mabel.

So, in the end, I learned at least two valuable lessons.

1. Don't assume that naming/nicknaming conventions apply to everyone in a given family.  

2. Occam's Razor apparently doesn't apply to genealogy.

Oh, and 3, don't assume government records are most likely to be correct.  The SSDI indicated Nettie's date of death was June 15th, but that was actually the date she was buried.

Long story short - Nettie was NOT her nickname.