This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: RADCLIFF Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/zZB.2ACI/321.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: I was thinking of the Rackleys of Maine, not New York. I believe there name was Radcliffe when they moved to America. I did a short google search and was surprised to see so many Rackleys in the southern states. It seems some of these people carried the name Rackley while still in England. So the name did not change once or twice or even in just one place. The clerk wrote down what he heard and asked no questions. How many of our ancestors could actually have spelled it for him? There was an English soldier named Radcliff/Ratcliff who married a Van Valkenburg Dutch girl in Albany, NY before the Revolution. My memory says that some of their descendants had the name Rackley while others retained Radcliff/Ratcliff. I'm getting to the point where I should no longer rely on my memory for anything. But looking everything up is a great chore and takes days.