thanks to everyone who provided their input on this topic i really understand better now how important it is to go with the variant spelling contained in the "original" record. Since it is almost impossible to view every possible record of every ancestor, either on microfilm (LDS) or get to Edinburgh to view records, i will for now use the spelling transcribed by ScotslandPeople (ScP) and then obviously "source" the spelling to ScP Gavin's point that you are actually "falsifying the historical record" by "standardising the name" is well taken! thanks Gavin i also enjoyed the humour in Keith Abel's comments! thanks, Keith i hope this topic proved beneficial to everyone Schani Biermann