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How should I use various surname spellings in a tree?

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  • How should I use various surname spellings in a tree?

    Having just broken down my Clive family tree brick wall from 1805 back to 1717 thanks to this web sites members, I now seem to have another problem.

    How do old hands at this family tree business handle many and various Surname spellings when entering new people into existing trees, for example on the ancestry site where my tree is.

    Back to 1804 my family surname is Clive with the odd census variation being an added 's' or 'r'.
    Beyond that it changes in parish records almost every time there is an entry, from Clive, to Cleeve, Cleeves, Cleves, Cleaves etc etc.

    Some of the same people are all three of them at different times of their lives which has made the sorting out difficult, but before I enter them all up I wonder if there is a usual or accepted way of doing it so it makes sense and so I don't feel the need to change it all once I put them all in?

    Thanks

    Les
    Researching my family with the surname Clive, and variations/mispellings Clives Cleve, Cleves, Cleeve, Cleeves from the Worcestershire and Wolverhampton areas. Especially various Mezey Clive characters!

  • #2
    hmmm........i have the same problem, but for my german lines. my ancestor was dittmann in germany, came to australia and became dettmann. they then added or subtracted 'n's or 't's every now and then. one branch changed states and became 'dettermann', apparently because the wife hated the family and didnt want them to track them down!! so i use dittmann for the members born in germany, dettmann for the victorians, and dettermann for the south australians. i guess you have to pick, or maybe use a different spelling for each individual, or just use clive, and make notes in your paper trail of the way the spelt it.

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    • #3
      I don't have so many variations, but I tend to use the surname at birth, and then record the variations found in censuses etc. against the event. For example I recently found a family named Seth, in which the later children are recorded as Seath, so that's what I've used for them. And in one census they are recorded as Seith, so I've noted that against the event. I use FTM, so I can record a second surname in the "also known as" box.
      Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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      • #4
        I use one standard "name" so that in any index, I then record the name as spelt in an event in the event notes.
        I have Artiss spelt as Aters,Eaters,Arthurs,Artis,Arthis,Hartiss, and many more variations
        Mike in Droitwich

        My family tree is on
        http://mjfisher.tribalpages.com

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        • #5
          It's difficult isn't it? I tend to use the most common name, especially where the different spellings seem to be a result of possible mistranscriptions etc - I have Degg in staffordshire, which crops up as Degg, Degge, Deggs, Degges, Digg, Diggs etc. But that said if the name appears to have genuinely morphed in a generational situation then I'll use both spellings - my mainly Victorian Degg families were almost always Degge prior to about 1800 so I've gone with that.

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          • #6
            I always use the name that is used on marriage/birth/baptism certificates as family may be trying to change the name for whatever reason. I do not accept death cert names or census names as these are liable to mistakes so I think rule of thumb to me is accept the name written on official documents.

            Then I have written notes pointing out all the different spellings and where they are coming from. For example, I have Neale in Tipperary Ireland/O'Neill in Cork City Ireland/O'Neil in Albany USA. I then try to find the history of why the change. It makes the family tree more interactive.

            Janet

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            • #7
              Thanks for those suggestions folks.....

              Pre 1800 I'm leaning towards using the baptism name for my online tree and then explaining the differences somewhere on the individual record whenever a name change occurs mainly because most of the names I have recently collected don't seem to be in mainstream online collections, and are what I've collected from archives offices.

              The object of me making my tree public is so that people with links somewhere along the line can find them and some of the variations I've had with first and surnames have been so far from what I thought they should be I'm sure others must be missing them too. In fact, I know they are because some have picked the wrong line completely from names which are similar but easily confused with the correct line. I am fairly happy that all the variations are simply because of illiteracy, and the various officials writing down what they think it should be when told with a south and then northern Birmingham accent.

              As far as I know with my ancestry subscription I can only enter one name which will show up in searches others do, or be linked automatically by their 'member connect' system which suggests possible tree matches with other subscribers, so I have to plump for one, but which one to pick when they change so much is driving me to drink.....so it's not all bad news I suppose!

              No problem with my personal tree on my computer because I have worked out who they are.....it's the public searches and connecting with others where I think I may get it wrong.
              Researching my family with the surname Clive, and variations/mispellings Clives Cleve, Cleves, Cleeve, Cleeves from the Worcestershire and Wolverhampton areas. Especially various Mezey Clive characters!

              Comment


              • #8
                For the purposes of connecting with other people researching the same tree, I use the spelling "as found".

                I do this in case the connection has only found that one event and is not aware that there is another possible way of spelling the name.

                On my own tree, I have settled on the modern surname (Holden) but enter the variants in the notes, e.g. "baptised Olding" "married as Houlden" etc.

                EDIT - Come to think of it, I'm sure I have entered surnames on Ancestry tree as "Holden/Olding" etc and this has been accepted as a surname, rather than two alternatives.

                OC
                Last edited by Olde Crone Holden; 12-05-10, 16:55. Reason: Afterthought

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                • #9
                  I undertstand what you're saying OC, but which of the three would be best selected if a person is baptised Mezey Cleeves, married as Mazy Cleve and dies as Maisey Clive, and you know by the families, dates, places that you have the same person.

                  I have this from 1771 to 1804 years with the surname for almost everyone and they aren't bad transcritions just different spellings in registers!
                  I suppose I could have a count up and use the most frequently used name and hope searches turn them up for other folks?
                  Last edited by bigtallgeezer; 12-05-10, 17:04. Reason: spelling
                  Researching my family with the surname Clive, and variations/mispellings Clives Cleve, Cleves, Cleeve, Cleeves from the Worcestershire and Wolverhampton areas. Especially various Mezey Clive characters!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Well I suppose you could enter as Mezey/Mazy/Maisey Cleeves/Cleve/Clive, but I grant you that's a bit messy, lol. I presume that Clive is the modern fixed spelling, so would probably use that as default and add the variants in the notes for each event as they occur.

                    OC

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by bigtallgeezer View Post
                      Thanks for those suggestions folks.....

                      As far as I know with my ancestry subscription I can only enter one name which will show up in searches others do, or be linked automatically by their 'member connect' system which suggests possible tree matches with other subscribers,
                      There is a facility on Ancestry to add alternative names - everyone hits the problem of free-form spelling at some point - if you start with the profile view, click on 'edit this person' look at 'vital information': on the right hand side of the screen there's a 'more options' button. Clicking on that offers you the option of adding an alternative name.

                      In my own family I have Pierces who are also Pearce or Pearse. The name isn't unusual so it's even harder to sort out who's related to whom!
                      Looking for Bysh, Potter, Littleton, Parke, Franks, Sullivan, Gosden, Carroll, Hurst, Churcher, Covell, Elverson, Giles, Hawkins, Witherden...

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                      • #12
                        Thanks a million Somerset Sal.....I don't know why I didn't know that, I had best start a 'click on everything and see what it does' campaign.

                        Very simple.....nowall I have to do is decided which version takes priority....LOL

                        Ta
                        Les
                        Researching my family with the surname Clive, and variations/mispellings Clives Cleve, Cleves, Cleeve, Cleeves from the Worcestershire and Wolverhampton areas. Especially various Mezey Clive characters!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Just stick with the Chambers lot Les, far easier to deal with and i've done some of the work already!!!
                          http://www.flickr.com/photos/50125734@N06/

                          Joseph Goulson 1701-1780
                          My sledging hammer lies declined, my bellows too have lost their wind
                          My fire's extinct, my forge decay'd, and in the dust my vice is laid

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by bigtallgeezer View Post
                            I am fairly happy that all the variations are simply because of illiteracy, and the various officials writing down what they think it should be when told with a south and then northern Birmingham accent.
                            Not quite right to blame it on illiteracy. One has to realise that spelling didn't begin to be standardised until the 19thc, and there were no 'right' and 'wrong' versions of a name. Multiple spellings of the same name are often found within the same document.

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                            • #15
                              I always tend to use the Birth/Baptismal spelling. This has shown up one family whose father had a speech defect so all the children were baptised as Wedrald.
                              Grampa Jim passed away September 2011

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                              • #16
                                Surname Spellings

                                Originally posted by Blackberry View Post
                                Not quite right to blame it on illiteracy. One has to realise that spelling didn't begin to be standardised until the 19thc, and there were no 'right' and 'wrong' versions of a name. Multiple spellings of the same name are often found within the same document.
                                Thanks for that.....I didn't know that, and had just put it down to different officials on different days.
                                I have decided to use the baptism name for them mostly, because as luck would have it they are in the majority anyway. Plus that ancestry facility to add alternative names is just the job.
                                Thanks all.

                                p.s. Glen, thanks for that document....just the job to keep me interested in the Chambers side of things when I've got another 30 in depth Clives to look at

                                Regards
                                Les
                                Researching my family with the surname Clive, and variations/mispellings Clives Cleve, Cleves, Cleeve, Cleeves from the Worcestershire and Wolverhampton areas. Especially various Mezey Clive characters!

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Grandpa Jim how do you have them indexed in your database/family history program ? Some of mine have the same surname starting with different letters of the alphabet .
                                  Mike in Droitwich

                                  My family tree is on
                                  http://mjfisher.tribalpages.com

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