> John Sents <jsents@stny.rr.com> wrote: > > > How's the best way to handle entering multiple surname spelling > > variations in my genealogy program... when the person used different > > ones or the records show different ones? > > Well, I've seen quite a bit of this. If I can find their name > written by them, I'll use the spelling they did rather than, say, > that of a census-taker. If they're inconsistant (sometimes on the > same document), then that's a sure bet that they weren't all that > clear on how it should be spelled, and then I just pick a reasonable > spelling from a later generation and make notes about the various > spellings seen and where/when. > > Not a perfect system, but it's the best I came up with. Lots of our > ancestors were, after all, doing things phoenetically. > > Dave Hinz <davehinz@spamcop.net> I stick to the spelling I think they meant. Seems to be what the gedcom programs expect anyway. But I suppose they would allow changes in a pedigree. First use of LANKSHEAR was in a marriage record of 1746 after that we had many different spellings used in census and BMD records - but the LANKSHEAR spelling came out at the end. I would record the spelling variation in the source for data. LENKSHEAR LARKS LANKSHIRE etc Of course you have a problem if it is clear the ancestor meant it - example I heard of recently DAVIES who became DAVIS. -- Ron Lankshear - Sydney Aust (from Shepherds Bush & Chiswick) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lankshear/ my family & document sources http://members.tripod.com/ronlankshear - try the genealogy links and suggestion "Ron" <ronlank@hotmail.com>