Well - at least that keeps us in touch with contemporary reality.
One of the very rare occasions within recent years when I really spat the dummy - as they say - was when a colleague (to whom I ought perhaps apologise) took it upon himself to change all text references I had made to Italian driver Carlo Mario Abate to read Carlo 'Maria' Abate. Remembering the driver in question, and having once confirmed his name with him - I detonated.
It was a real column of purple fire moment - as I guess it often can be when it involves someone who normally shows few signs of volcanic tendency. When he protested that he'd checked it against the internet and "Wikipedia says..." - Kaboom!!!! (again).
Like many boys in Catholic Italy - including Enzo Ferrari - one of Abate's given names did indeed, I have been assured subsequently, pay homage to the mother of Christ - but during his racing career C.M Abate declared preference for the masculine spelling frequently used in contemporary press reports of his activities, in Italian as well as English and any other language.
Contemporary use versus register office takes precedence - as far as I am concerned. I wonder what future post-period researchers may perhaps throw up where Indycar driver Sting Ray Robb - or similar - might be concerned. But that one, to me, lacks the Italian charm...
DCN
Edited by Doug Nye, 03 April 2023 - 14:31.