In a message dated 1/4/03 12:51:39 AM Central Standard Time, lippy01@yahoo.com writes: > I would assume they might be relatives in which > somewhere their names are spelled differently because > of family disassociation or some official somewhere > spelled it different because the people didn't know > how to read or write. > > Spelling (or misspelling) of names is a pet peeve of mine. One of the most > common reasons we modern day family genealogists use for the misspelling of > names is the fact that our ancestors didn't know how to read or write. This > is, of course, a very good reason. But....... > > Has anyone ever noticed how often our names are misspelled today (21st > century)? This is usually done by well educated people. Every day the mail > man delivers mail, my name is misspelled. Every time I do business (use a > credit card, go to the doctor's office, bank, etc.), someone misspells my > name. My family misspells my name. Every year, I get Christmas cards from > 1st cousins and they misspell my name. I grew up with them! I've told them > the correct spelling! They still misspell it. > > When my name (1st and last) is misspelled, it turns into another name > entirely. Many times this does not compute. I wonder what our descendants > will tell people about our misspelling of names! > > By the way, my name when spelled correctly is very simple. > > I'll get off my soapbox now. Liz ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "Recipes from Family, Friends & Strangers," by Liz Gerlits (a cookbook with a genealogy flavor). Email me privately at DLizgerlits@aol.com for details.

Your soapbox is ok. Stand on it all you like! Believe me, I've noticed! Read on. When I was in high school, I had an American history teacher who loved to pick on me and visa versa. We had a great teacher-student relationship. Well, anyway to the story part! He use to tease me all the time about spelling my name with a "d" on the end. (Redmon/Redmond) It irritated me to no end. I told him over and over I didn't have a "d" on the end of my surname. Then when I graduated he gave me a card and on the inside he had cut out a letter "d" for my graduation gift. Now, that "d" is very special to me because he was a very special teacher. I made straight A's in his class. Never been able to do that before or after. I'm terrible with dates! Goes to show, if you make a class fun for students, they learn easier! Since I started doing genealogy, I have found that some of my direct line ancestors surnames were spelled with a "d" on the end. My oldest son's name is spelled Jeral. You wouldn't believe the different kind of ways it can be misspelled. Even when you stand there and spell it out for them, they still will misspell it. Most people like to put a "d" on the end of it also. Will I never get rid of that pesky little "d"? LOL My oldest daughter's name is Johnna (John-na). Most people call her Joanna (Jo-anna) when they see her name in print. It's a constant irritant to her. If people call and ask for Joanna, knowing they're calling for her, she'll tell them "that person doesn't live here". It doesn't teach them anything really. My daughter Carrie is often spelled Keri. Most of the time, I just automatically tell people how to spell our names. Even the Smith part. You'd be surprised how many people even would ask me how to spell Smith! My grandmother insisted her Barefield and Pridgeon ancestors were spelled exactly as I typed them. But guess what? I've found them spelled many different ways. I've learned through the years it's just best to be passive about the spellings and pronunciation of names. People aren't necessarily ignorant or illiterate but, maybe, they just don't pay attention or have been trained to spell it only one way and they're brain cells just won't comprehend it any other way. You know the old saying, "It's hard to teach old dogs new tricks"? I agree with you on the fact all of our ancestors were not illiterate. PS: by the way, I'm a terrible speller! I have to use my husband, a dictionary, or spell check most of the time and I still misspell words. Janice Redmon Smith --- DLizgerlits@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 1/4/03 12:51:39 AM Central > Standard Time, > lippy01@yahoo.com writes: > > > > I would assume they might be relatives in which > > somewhere their names are spelled differently > because > > of family disassociation or some official > somewhere > > spelled it different because the people didn't > know > > how to read or write. > > > > Spelling (or misspelling) of names is a pet peeve > of mine. One of the most > > common reasons we modern day family genealogists > use for the misspelling of > > names is the fact that our ancestors didn't know > how to read or write. This > > is, of course, a very good reason. But....... > > > > Has anyone ever noticed how often our names are > misspelled today (21st > > century)? This is usually done by well educated > people. Every day the mail > > man delivers mail, my name is misspelled. Every > time I do business (use a > > credit card, go to the doctor's office, bank, > etc.), someone misspells my > > name. My family misspells my name. Every year, I > get Christmas cards from > > 1st cousins and they misspell my name. I grew up > with them! I've told them > > the correct spelling! They still misspell it. > > > > When my name (1st and last) is misspelled, it > turns into another name > > entirely. Many times this does not compute. I > wonder what our descendants > > will tell people about our misspelling of names! > > > > By the way, my name when spelled correctly is very > simple. > > > > I'll get off my soapbox now. > > Liz > > ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > ~ ~ > "Recipes from Family, Friends & Strangers," by Liz > Gerlits (a cookbook with a > genealogy flavor). Email me privately at > DLizgerlits@aol.com for details. > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion > online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com