The birth certificate of eden ahbez, also known as George Alexander Aberle and George McGrew, reveals a few tidbits about this unique American’s early life.

George Alexander Aberle was born on April 15, 1908 to George Philip Aberle (bookbinder) and Mary Ann Mason Aberle of 263 Nassau Street in Brooklyn, New York. Eden’s father is listed as born in New York, while his mother’s birthplace is England. Mary Ann Aberle is 34, while George Aberle is 37.

At the top of the birth certificate, the name of George Alexander Aberle is crossed out and Eden Ahbe is written in, in block letters. (No, there is no ‘Z’.) It looks like the name change was approved by the court on November 17, 1943, and approved by the Commissioner of Health on March 8, 1951.

In researching the origins of eden ahbez, I looked up his dad George Philip Aberle in the 1910 US Census. The Aberle family is found living in the Brooklyn Ward 11, Kings, New York. The older Mr. Aberle lists his father and mother as being born in Germany. Eden’s mom is named Margaret (she is listed as Annie in other census reports) and the children living in the house are: Elizabeth C. (age 16), Grace G. (age 13), Walter P. (age 11), Irene L. (age 9), William L. (age 8), Edna M. (age 6), Lester P. (age 4), Anna M. (age 3), Adatha B. (age 2), and then there is George A. Aberle, age 2. On seeing the two kids the same age one wonders if George and Adatha were twins, though perhaps they were just born in the same year?

Perhaps the most significant detail here is that the young George Alexander Aberle is the tenth child to be born to his mother. Maybe George goes to Kansas to be raised by the McGrew family because there are too many kids for the parents to care for?

And what caused George Alexander Aberle to formally change his name to Eden Ahbez? Was there a psychological disconnect from his biological family of origin, or was ahbez merely practicing the fine art of reinventing himself? Was George inspired to choose the name 'eden' from his sister named Edna?

One wonders…