David, Hamerick is an infrequent variation of the name Hamrick. More common variations are Hamric, Hambrick, Hemrick. Other less frequent are Hammock, Hambrugg, Hambrock. I have seen Hamerick in the census several times along with other spellings invented by the census taker. One man in your area must have used Hamerick and thus there are several generations of his descendants using that variation. English researchers claim the name is known for having variations within a family in that a person may be recorded born with a different variation that his father, married with another variation, and buried with a third. In some older documents the same person may be refereed to with three different spellings of his name. So you can leave the 'e' out on the top of your paper and sign with an 'e'. J R Hamrick Hambrick Genealogy at: http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com -----Original Message----- I'm curious how many of you have an E in the middle, i.e., "Hamerick". Probably 10% of my students (college) use this spelling when they turn in their first papers to me (your grade school students, Ginger, are far more meticulous about spelling!). Is this a historically common variant in the U.S.?