a topic for general discussion In my research i have encountered various spellings of the surname GARDEN. in the earliest records the name is spelled as Gardyne/Gardne. then it appears as Gairden/Gardin and then by the latter part of the 19th cent = Garden In my FTM genealogy program i have decided to stay with the surname as GARDEN all the way through the generations and in brackets i place the variant spelling EXAMPLE: William (Gairden) Garden James (Gardne (Garden) = Sarah Clerk if sometimes it seems just to be a minor variant on spelling > last name > McBe(a)th , i "bracket" the vowel how does everyone else approach this "problem"? is there a "proper" way, genealogically speaking, a preferred method or simply depends on each individual Schani Biermann

I guess you use whatever works for you. I spell all names how I find them in original documents, never as found in transcripts if I can find the original document. A large part of my 35,000 names were assembled sitting in LDS churches looking at microfilm of original documents and feel sorry for those who have to resort to the Internet where all documents are transcripts. However would I have found the "Hazard" whose name was transcribed "Maryford" If I hadn't looked at the original document. Using spelling as in original documents makes a mess out of alphabetic listings of my records but I live with that. I once spent good money on a published genealogy whose author had decided that there was a right and a wrong way to spell names and re-wrote all names according to her ideas of what was right. This publication might be useful for propping up the short leg of a wobbly table. M Keith Abel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Schani Biermann" <ussenterprise1701@accesscomm.ca> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 12:25 PM Subject: [ABERDEEN] variant name spellings >a topic for general discussion > > In my research i have encountered various spellings of the surname GARDEN. > in the earliest records the name is spelled as Gardyne/Gardne. then it > appears as Gairden/Gardin and then by the latter part of the 19th cent = > Garden > > In my FTM genealogy program i have decided to stay with the surname as > GARDEN all the way through the generations and in brackets i place the > variant spelling > > EXAMPLE: > > William (Gairden) Garden > James (Gardne (Garden) = Sarah Clerk > > if sometimes it seems just to be a minor variant on spelling > last name > > McBe(a)th , i "bracket" the vowel > > how does everyone else approach this "problem"? is there a "proper" way, > genealogically speaking, a preferred method or simply depends on each > individual > > Schani Biermann > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ABERDEEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

I try to list them consistently but show the variants too. I also use the notes section to indicate spelling variants.  This allows for good statistical analysis and linking of families while also giving a paper trail back to the spelling in the documents.  A little more entry work, but it gives me the best of both worlds. Laura ________________________________ From: M Keith Abel <kabel@kingston.net> To: aberdeen@rootsweb.com Sent: Tue, March 30, 2010 2:18:26 PM Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] variant name spellings I guess you use whatever works for you.  I spell all names how I find them in original documents, never as found in transcripts if I can find the original document.  A large part of my 35,000 names were assembled sitting in LDS churches looking at microfilm of original documents and feel sorry for those who have to resort to the Internet where all documents are transcripts.  However would I have found the "Hazard"  whose name was transcribed "Maryford"  If I hadn't looked at the original document. Using spelling as in original documents makes a mess out of alphabetic listings of my records but I live with that. I once spent good money on a published genealogy whose author had decided that there was a right and a wrong way to spell names and re-wrote all names according to her ideas of what was right.  This publication might be useful for propping up the short leg of a wobbly table. M Keith Abel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Schani Biermann" <ussenterprise1701@accesscomm.ca> To: <aberdeen@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 12:25 PM Subject: [ABERDEEN] variant name spellings >a topic for general discussion > > In my research i have encountered various spellings of the surname GARDEN. > in the earliest records the name is spelled as Gardyne/Gardne. then it > appears as Gairden/Gardin and then by the latter part of the 19th cent = > Garden > > In my FTM genealogy program i have decided to stay with the surname as > GARDEN all the way through the generations and in brackets i place the > variant spelling > > EXAMPLE: > > William (Gairden) Garden > James (Gardne (Garden) = Sarah Clerk > > if sometimes it seems just to be a minor variant on spelling > last name > > McBe(a)th , i "bracket" the vowel > > how does everyone else approach this "problem"? is there a "proper" way, > genealogically speaking, a preferred method or simply depends on each > individual > > Schani Biermann > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ABERDEEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ABERDEEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Schani Biermann wrote: > a topic for general discussion > > In my research i have encountered various spellings of the surname > GARDEN. in the earliest records the name is spelled as > Gardyne/Gardne. then it appears as Gairden/Gardin and then by the > latter part of the 19th cent = Garden > > In my FTM genealogy program i have decided to stay with the surname > as GARDEN all the way through the generations and in brackets i place > the variant spelling > > EXAMPLE: > > William (Gairden) Garden James (Gardne (Garden) = Sarah Clerk > > if sometimes it seems just to be a minor variant on spelling > last > name > McBe(a)th , i "bracket" the vowel > > how does everyone else approach this "problem"? is there a "proper" > way, genealogically speaking, a preferred method or simply depends on > each individual My take on this would be that there is no "correct" version - our ancestors were clearly more relaxed about spelling than we are (and in good company - Shakespeare seemingly wrote his name in numerous different ways). Following on from this, I would suggest that by "standardising" the name you use in your genealogy program, you are actually falsifying the historical record. If the software can't accommodate people with variable name-spellings, then the fault is with the program, not with the names! Gavin Bell