This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Yg.2ADE/371.405.516.517.520.522.522.1 Message Board Post: This probably best illustrates that spelling (and origin) of names are not constant! There wasn't a "correct" spelling of names, individuals often were not literate and thus if they moved, the spelling of their name was subject to the intrepretation of a town clerk, church secretary, etc. My greatgrandfather's sister's name was spelled Moshiere on her marriage license, while I have an original letter from her father using the Mosher spelling. Did she really do that, or did a clerk? Also be wary of origin stories tell proven. Mosher appears to be derived from an English name Moger, pronounced much the same. My own family came from England around 1630, then emigrated to Nova Scotia in 1760. Around 1970, while researching a book on Newport NS, John Duncanson discovered a Mosher family who had emigrated from Germany in the mid-1800's, name spelled Moser, but they "adopted" the local spelling of Mosher! So, take all those family stories with a grain of salt tell proven, a! nd remember that the SAME name can have many spellings and many origins!