[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Middle Names

[Tammy Jochman]

Hi all,

I have a question about middle names. My great-grandmother's sister was 
named Maria Magdelena.
We know her as being called Marie in the US (because she later changed her 
name from Maria to Marie).
Would it have been standard for her to have been called Magdelena, as was 
common, when she was in Russia and later used her 1st name
in the U.S? We are trying to determine the name that would have been 
recorded on the birth record in Russia. Would we look under Maria or 
Magdelena or try both?

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me on the use of calling 
people by either their first or middle names during the late 1890's.

Tammy Jochman