This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: littlespider_1 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.ireland.tyr.general/2234.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hello, I am a McKavney from Manchester in the UK. The spelling of my surname it seems to have changed over many generations to how it is spelt today. I think that a lot of it has to do with the pronunciation of the word - obviously back in the 19th century and before that people's spelling wasn't as good as todays and so a name was written down on birth/marriage/death certificates phonetically (when a word is spelt as how it sounds). I know this for a fact because we have a family bible dating back to the 1800s which documents the numerous spellings to what it is today. The McKavney you are referring to is Maureen McKavney, my aunt who did live in Australia for a few years but now resides back in Europe. However, there are no McKabneys in our family but it is quite clear to see where the 'b' comes from if your relatives were originally McKavneys. Hope this helps! Rowan x Rowan x Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.