Well, whether your a old hand at genealogy or a "newbie" it's still interesting talking about the differences & similarities of name spellings. I've been doing it more than a few years, & appreciate someone's experience in something I've not dove into myself, YET! I'm still learning of new spellings of my maiden name of Cain: Kean, Kane, Kain, & others! So we can all find our relatives! Thanks for your opinion, Tom, & chatting. Are you a transplanted "southerner" or native, Tom? I'm a transplanted northerner from OH to Central FL. Cathy > [Original Message] > From: Thomas E. Lassek <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 8/23/2004 10:31:02 AM > Subject: Re: [PITTSBURGH] OKRUTA > > "Kids, > It may have been the person that recorded the name that put "'" behind > the O. I had a friend Joe Opalka with no "'". I do believe that that is > how many names change or, rather, become corrupted. Mac" > > - - - - - - - - - - > > Hello Mac ... > > Yes, that's true, and it's not over yet, in fact the surname variants may change as time progresses. O'Reilly today may be Orely 200 years from now for one reason or the other and I personally think that all the diacritical marks will continue to go away as well, as they have in the last 100 years when immigrants arrived in the US. > > All this surname business is based on phonetics. As our English dictionary changes, based on acceptable modifications to the English language, so eventually will the spelling of surnames change - by design or otherwise. > > For the most part, we as a people are over the "main hump" when immigrant illiteracy was the norm rather than the exception. I've seen various figures from the early years concerning immigrant illiteracy and I think it's fair to say that somewhere around 90% could neither read or write in their native language - couple that with spelling in the new world language (English) and it becomes a mess. Immigrants were concerned only with "getting here" - correct spelling of their surname was of little or no importance, and if they were asked to confirm their surname in writing, they'd undoubtedly look at the "entry" and nod their head in the affirmative. Mr. Szkiladz from Poland would swear up and down that the "Smith" entry just recorded by Mr. McDonald in the governments "arrival register" in New York was indeed his surname. Everyone concerned, now happy that "inprocessing" was finished, could go their seperate ways. Mr. Szkiladz could now board the train West towards his eventu! > al homestead in the new country. > > Tom Lassek > Eufaula Alabama > > > ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== > How to unsubscribe. Send a message to:[email protected] that contains ONLY the word, 'unsubscribe' in the text area. > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237

Hello again Cathy ... I am transplanted ... a Yankee living in the South. My wife and I moved here from Alaska about 2 years ago. We lived in a log home I built along the Tanana river. I'm retired twice (Soldier and Civil Service). My wife retired from Civil Service early as well since they closed the Army Fort where we worked. We spent one winter looking at each other across the kitchen table at -60F and decided it was time to move. She chose Alabama ... I wanted Kuaii Hawaii ... she won. Tom Lassek Eufaula Alabama ----- Original Message ----- From: Cathy Raber To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 6:32 PM Subject: Re: [PITTSBURGH] OKRUTA Well, whether your a old hand at genealogy or a "newbie" it's still interesting talking about the differences & similarities of name spellings. I've been doing it more than a few years, & appreciate someone's experience in something I've not dove into myself, YET! I'm still learning of new spellings of my maiden name of Cain: Kean, Kane, Kain, & others! So we can all find our relatives! Thanks for your opinion, Tom, & chatting. Are you a transplanted "southerner" or native, Tom? I'm a transplanted northerner from OH to Central FL. Cathy > [Original Message] > From: Thomas E. Lassek <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 8/23/2004 10:31:02 AM > Subject: Re: [PITTSBURGH] OKRUTA > > "Kids, > It may have been the person that recorded the name that put "'" behind > the O. I had a friend Joe Opalka with no "'". I do believe that that is > how many names change or, rather, become corrupted. Mac" > > - - - - - - - - - - > > Hello Mac ... > > Yes, that's true, and it's not over yet, in fact the surname variants may change as time progresses. O'Reilly today may be Orely 200 years from now for one reason or the other and I personally think that all the diacritical marks will continue to go away as well, as they have in the last 100 years when immigrants arrived in the US. > > All this surname business is based on phonetics. As our English dictionary changes, based on acceptable modifications to the English language, so eventually will the spelling of surnames change - by design or otherwise. > > For the most part, we as a people are over the "main hump" when immigrant illiteracy was the norm rather than the exception. I've seen various figures from the early years concerning immigrant illiteracy and I think it's fair to say that somewhere around 90% could neither read or write in their native language - couple that with spelling in the new world language (English) and it becomes a mess. Immigrants were concerned only with "getting here" - correct spelling of their surname was of little or no importance, and if they were asked to confirm their surname in writing, they'd undoubtedly look at the "entry" and nod their head in the affirmative. Mr. Szkiladz from Poland would swear up and down that the "Smith" entry just recorded by Mr. McDonald in the governments "arrival register" in New York was indeed his surname. Everyone concerned, now happy that "inprocessing" was finished, could go their seperate ways. Mr. Szkiladz could now board the train West towards his eventu! > al homestead in the new country. > > Tom Lassek > Eufaula Alabama > > > ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== > How to unsubscribe. Send a message to:[email protected] that contains ONLY the word, 'unsubscribe' in the text area. > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== How to unsubscribe. Send a message to:[email protected] that contains ONLY the word, 'unsubscribe' in the text area. ============================== Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237