Not-Parent-Expected (NPE) is more of a cross-over term used mostly by the Genetic Genealogy community now. The expansion of the acronym has changed recently to be more politically correct as the older version was interpreted with a negative connotation. Similar how in genetics, mutation has been changed to variation. But the meaning of the term has stayed the same no matter how the acronym is expanded. The previous expansion of the acronym was Non-Paternal-Event or even Non-Parental-Event. We have adopted the current word expansion of the acronym.
NPE is a catch-all to explain that a surname is different from the expected, documented biological, family inherited one. That is, for most western European cultures, different than the believed biological fathers surname. With the DNA testing now common and prevalent, this is used to label an "investigation" into why the yDNA results are implying different than the expected or historical inherited surname.
In most cases this unexpected event occurs with the male child as the male usually retains the surname of their father in the cultures we tend to be able to research. Unexpected maternal events are more rare as the birthing process tends to be traceable and better recorded. How often do you find a birth record listing the father but not the mother? NPE's with girls or women are rarer in occurrence simply because the woman tends to lose her surname upon marriage. But the term does apply to men and women.
Reasons for the change can be many and may never be fully understood. We list some of the more common occurrences; especially with no deception or ill-intent.
Sometimes the mother's maiden name or that of a grandparent is given to the child. Various reasons can be justified for this but often because either (1) the father is not in the life of the child or unknown, (2) the mother or parents chose to use a different surname than the fathers, (3) they chose to use a more familiar, recognized surname used in the local community, or (4) possibly there is some negative issue attached to the fathers surname. (Would you want to be named Blackbeard in the time nearer the legend; for example?) As the surnames covered here started to sound like a slang word being used in North America, this was definitely viewed as a reason for introducing variations and deviations. As well as complete changes recorded in court records.
Sometimes the parents die early and the younger child is orphaned. If no family is known, often in the early days of the settling of North America, a neighbor would take the child in. If young enough, the child simply assumes the surname of their now adoptive parents. No formal process or legal system existed as is used now. It was simply done for survival in the colonies. This is likely the most common explanation in many cases when occurring in the early settling of North America and Oceania; and can be supported by finding evidence of geographic proximity. This most often occurred before legal systems of adoption were setup. In a similar vein, when the father is not known or involved, and the mother caring for the child marries while the child is still every young, then the child will simply use the step-fathers surname. An informal adoption per current practice.
Maybe the child was simply given up for adoption. This was not so formal a procedure before the 1900's in North America and could be done for any number of reasons. A pseudo-adoption occurred in performance families such as vaudeville theater and the traveling circus. A child was given (or sold) to the troupe to then train, perform and travel with the troupe. The leaders (or parents) of the troupe would give the child the surname of the troupe. As records became more formalized and this could not so easily occur anymore, this led to stage names different than documented legal names. But before 1900, stage names and actual names became one in the same.
Lastly, the one no one wants to hear, but it did occur more often then one might think, is that the child was fathered by another and this fact was simply not documented. Whether it be a neighbor coveting the wife, a slave owner coveting the female slave, or simply any act of procreation not recorded; whether by force or consent. An example here might be a young, unmarried woman who is sent away to a charity house to give birth "quietly" and then forced to give the child up without public record being made of the whole affair. Or she has the child and the child is given the mothers surname (more appropriately, the maternal grandfathers surname.) When it was the church keeping records, this was often the mechanism used.
NPE is a catch-all to explain that a surname is different from the expected, documented biological, family inherited one. That is, for most western European cultures, different than the believed biological fathers surname. With the DNA testing now common and prevalent, this is used to label an "investigation" into why the yDNA results are implying different than the expected or historical inherited surname.
In most cases this unexpected event occurs with the male child as the male usually retains the surname of their father in the cultures we tend to be able to research. Unexpected maternal events are more rare as the birthing process tends to be traceable and better recorded. How often do you find a birth record listing the father but not the mother? NPE's with girls or women are rarer in occurrence simply because the woman tends to lose her surname upon marriage. But the term does apply to men and women.
Reasons for the change can be many and may never be fully understood. We list some of the more common occurrences; especially with no deception or ill-intent.
Sometimes the mother's maiden name or that of a grandparent is given to the child. Various reasons can be justified for this but often because either (1) the father is not in the life of the child or unknown, (2) the mother or parents chose to use a different surname than the fathers, (3) they chose to use a more familiar, recognized surname used in the local community, or (4) possibly there is some negative issue attached to the fathers surname. (Would you want to be named Blackbeard in the time nearer the legend; for example?) As the surnames covered here started to sound like a slang word being used in North America, this was definitely viewed as a reason for introducing variations and deviations. As well as complete changes recorded in court records.
Sometimes the parents die early and the younger child is orphaned. If no family is known, often in the early days of the settling of North America, a neighbor would take the child in. If young enough, the child simply assumes the surname of their now adoptive parents. No formal process or legal system existed as is used now. It was simply done for survival in the colonies. This is likely the most common explanation in many cases when occurring in the early settling of North America and Oceania; and can be supported by finding evidence of geographic proximity. This most often occurred before legal systems of adoption were setup. In a similar vein, when the father is not known or involved, and the mother caring for the child marries while the child is still every young, then the child will simply use the step-fathers surname. An informal adoption per current practice.
Maybe the child was simply given up for adoption. This was not so formal a procedure before the 1900's in North America and could be done for any number of reasons. A pseudo-adoption occurred in performance families such as vaudeville theater and the traveling circus. A child was given (or sold) to the troupe to then train, perform and travel with the troupe. The leaders (or parents) of the troupe would give the child the surname of the troupe. As records became more formalized and this could not so easily occur anymore, this led to stage names different than documented legal names. But before 1900, stage names and actual names became one in the same.
Lastly, the one no one wants to hear, but it did occur more often then one might think, is that the child was fathered by another and this fact was simply not documented. Whether it be a neighbor coveting the wife, a slave owner coveting the female slave, or simply any act of procreation not recorded; whether by force or consent. An example here might be a young, unmarried woman who is sent away to a charity house to give birth "quietly" and then forced to give the child up without public record being made of the whole affair. Or she has the child and the child is given the mothers surname (more appropriately, the maternal grandfathers surname.) When it was the church keeping records, this was often the mechanism used.