This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Anderson Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Wl.2ADIB/8835.2 Message Board Post: Did his parents die while he was young? There's a Kenneth Anderson who's 13 years old, boarding with a family named Palmer (Robert Palmer, wife Mary, daughter Edna (?)). He's in ED# 1340, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. Also, with a middle initial of K as well, perhaps he went by his middle name? or his middle name was Kenneth and the K was his real first name they used in the Census? I have an ancestor, that in 1920 & 1930 was listed as O. Gerald, but all his life he's been called Gerald or Jerry. I still have no idea what the O stood for? I have another relation named Priscilla that was listed as Percellor on the ship's manifest that brought her to the US from England in 1849. If they were fresh from another country, they could spell their names differently to start with until they Naturalize. My Grandfather's name in Sweden was Westerholm-Skald, the Skald being a regional designator they used there. The immigrations clerk registered him at Ellis Island as Surname: Skald, but his brother got registerd as Westerholm. Go figure! They both changed their names to West once they became US Citizens. I've seen some of my ancestors change from Andersen to Anderson, from Johansson to Johnson. An Anderson coud be listed in immigration records as Andersson, Andersonn. Andersen could have been listed as Anderssen or Andersenn. It can be really hard to track some of these folks down. Good Luck, I hope you find him. Darilee