One of the most important lessons that I have learned while research family history is that a name is not always the same! How a name is spelled is completely dependent on who is writing it.
Names on a census
Data sheets from the census conducted every ten years were recorded and written by census takers. Neither spelling skills or good penmanship were requirements for being a census taker.
Census takers tended to spell names according to common spellings or how they sound phonetically. For example, a family may be named Smyth but if it was pronounced like “Smith” guess how it was written on the census log sheet.
Legal names were not always required for the census so family members may be listed according to nicknames rather than their given name.
Evolution of names
Sometimes a member of a family will decide to change the spelling of their name. They may change a vowel (i.e. Hamar to Hamer) or remove a letter (i.e. Davidson to Davison or Stimpson to Stimson). The change may be the choice to separate themselves from the family or it may be the result of a third party and family members just adopt the new spelling.
Lessons Learned
Lesson #1 – When researching or looking for an ancestor try all the possible spelling variations before giving up. You may find ancestors that have been “missing” for years.
Lesson #2 – Whenever I have found records that were completed by the individual or a parent and/or included a signature, I have usually adapted that spelling for my records.
Happy researching!