On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:29:05 EST, [email protected] wrote: > The surname spelling changes were a major problem for me > in trying to manage my database. I found duplication of > entries and figured out a system that seems to work for > me. I click on "new unrelated individual" and, for > example: type "BONUM, all changed to BONHAM - data mg't". > Then, when I find someone where the name is clearly > BONUM, I enter it as Patience (Bonum) Bonham. Carol - The better genealogy programs allow you to give more than one name to each person. With that capability, you can use as the main name whatever spelling the evidence suggests was used by the person, while having also a "standard" spelling to facilitate finding everyone in the line without having to know which spelling was used for each person. You can also list other variations that the person appears to have used if you like. > One other thing I do to try to manage my data is when I > find a direct Mayflower descendant, I add (M) in the > middle of the name. For example: Carol (M) Reed. That > helps me research lines. Some genealogy software allows you to "color code" people by various criteria. This makes it easy to see specific lines, generations, etc., in the program without changing the names that appear in reports. Terry Reigel