How can I find out which spelling of a surname is right?

Question

I am looking for some information on my family. I came across two different spellings for the last name. Both turned up results. This woman died in the 1860's. How do I find out wich one is right? Do rootsweb have death records that long ago?

Answer 1

I wrote this article many years ago for Family Tree Magazine - you may find it helpful. It's about exactly what you're working on.

http://www.familytreemagazine.com/soundex.html

Answer 2

Given literacy rates during that period, and given that in many countries the idea of a single spelling for a name hadn't developed, you can find that there isn't a single spelling for a surname. Do this long enough and you'll find where one line of a family is Hook and another is Hooke...and it's all because one son added the E and the others didn't care. Getting a single spelling can take a lot of research to the next generations back...2-3 of them to find out what the norm was among them. Sometimes it's just a matter of who was writing the name or it's a matter of no one was literate enough to care. But other times, it's just a matter of social norms not putting a lot of stock into the contrivance of spelling...or even that the person providing the information for the death certificate really didn't know and just took a good guess.

One rule of thumb, though. When you have information provided by the person him/herself, look at their literacy level on the census. If they can't "Read/Write English", then take records written by a priest or minister over records where the individual was the provider of the information. Take birth and baptismal records over death records. Religious and military records are better than civil records...and especially don't put any stock in the spelling on the census. Enumerators were clearly more focused on getting an accurate count of the population and didn't seem to have a clue that anyone would be interested in their records 140 years later.

Answer 3

Don't tell your English teacher that I told you this.. but there is no correct spelling in genealogy. It is only the correct person and/or parents (or death record, so forth).
Rootsweb had no records of any kind in the 1800s. There may be some sort of death RECORD, not necessarily a certificate. It might be a tombstone, an obituary, family Bible record, a will (yes some women did leave wills).
You are not telling us where you turned up "results", and what those results are based on. I am guessing it might be another researcher's work, meaning there has to be another source. Rephrasing, what is the original item that led to that date/place? Some idiot researchers will be offended,as if you have no right to question them, which really makes them not much of a researcher anyway. Reliable researchers will put it out on the line for you, happily. If you came up with a more reliable source (they were estimating, you found the grave just a few blocks from home), they'd be delighted to have the right info.
To find which date is right (if there are two), you must evaluate your other records. For you, it is probable that she is near or linked to a known person such as her children or husband, etc. in some record. You might try the genweb page for the location.

Answer 4

Actually the right spelling is the one the person used...at the time you are looking. Many people, especially in the time frame you are talking, even through much more recent times, often had recorded different spellings of their own surname. Remember, not that long ago, reading and writing were not a given in the general population. Often a recorded name was verbalized by an illiterate person to a semi-illiterate clerk - often with an accent, and the clerk wrote their best guess as to the spelling - different clerks, different spellings.

Also you have written language transliteration problems. Letters exist in some languages that don't exist in say English, there are verbal sounds that don't exactly match up with any combination of our standard alphabet letters (the "ch" gutteral sound in Hebrew for example - why you have so many different spellings of Hannuka or Channukah or well you get the point).

I have one particular family with the surname commonly spelled as Stuckhold. There is a mother, father and 3 sons. NONE of them had the same spelling Sztzykold, Stukholt, Stukhold, Stuckolt, Stuckhold and Stockholt.

So there really is no correct spelling and also realize that even for a given person, especially in that timeframe, you are likely to find multiple spellings of their surname throughout their life.

Answer 5

I'll try to be brief.
Both spellings could be correct.
My Grandfather's last name was spell Crow.
His daughters spelled the name Crowe. I guess they put the "e" on the name to make it fancy.
So
1. either spelling is correct by choice
2. either spelling is correct by mistake of a recorder or a family member.
3. there are no rules in spelling when it comes to surnames.

Answer 6

Look for census records for both, if you know some of the names of other members in her household that would be helpful figuring out which one is right. Also, obits that may have been posted on message boards. go to www.usgenweb.com (it's free) and type in her name. If you know what state (I suggest checking both places of the records you found) you can click on that state at usgen. Some states have some pretty neat sites with lots of stuff. Post messages on the board, read the message boards, someone else may be looking for the same or see the name and have that info in their records. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Death Certificates were not issued that far back.

Answer 8

there can b diff spelings 4 it