@lzg so, here are my thoughts.
I think a couple of generations ago in North America, say the first half of the 1900s, it was way easier to have fluid identity. Families split, people moved and changed names and never went home again. Foggy recollections and embellished stories were hard to justify.
We don't live in that world any more. Records are digitized, and genealogy is much easier to research. And we have DNA testing that is pretty good.