I know not to put a lot of credence into any idea in genealogy of following only a spelling variant... in most cases it seems to be a "distinction without a difference"... Just to give an an example, my Haire ancestors seem to have happily feuded for a number of generations now over whether the name should be spelled Hare, Hair or Haire. And as far as I can trace them my Spear ancestors used only Spear... but I'm quite certain that if I could trace them any further it would have been as Spier or Speir. But my grandmother was quite definite that her mother's family spelled McQueen as "McQuien" and my research into Georgia (U.S.A.) records back to the 1840s (I can trace back only as far as my 3-great grandfather John D. McQuien, in Sumter County, Georgia, in the 1840 U.S. census) confirms that that spelling did show up... along with McQuean and McQueen. In those days, though, the spelling used was determined by the clerk or other official who wrote it down, but that the McQuien spelling showed up at all seems to me to confirm what grandma told me... not that I would doubt grandma, now mind you. <G> In looking at surnames in Scotland these days I do see numerous instances of the McQuien spelling and there seems to be a geographical locus to it... that is to say I don't see it much if at all around Skye but I do see it... here's where I hit a hole in my memory (it's been awhile since I did the "looking")... either in Ayr or Argyl. This is just one of those "round ideas".... I'm throwing it out to see if it rolls anywhere. Does anyone have any actual knowledge of any kind of a genealogical distinction based on this "McQuien" spelling variant? Notes: John D. McQuien married Sarah McMullen in Cumberland County, North Carolina, on 29 September 1814. Their children included my 2-great grandmother Mary McQuien Autry, Angus McQuien and John A. McQuean... and possibly others. The earliest birth date I have is circa 1823 for John A., so it is likely that there were older children who did not make the move from Cumberland County to Sumter County with John... Mary apparently died before 1840. Richard White Tallahassee, Florida