My two cents- as a former (and hopefully future) census taker- As a former Field Operations supervisor for the 1990 Decennial Census, I can tell you that census information is only as good as the person giving it. Chances are in today's world, if one of the adults in the family fills out the mail-in form, the information will be basically correct, assuming that the person fills it out honestly. However, when census information is gained by knocking on doors- as it always was way back when and is still for those who do not send their forms in, there is a tremendous margin for some error on some of the data. For example, a child may or may not know the ages or birthplaces of his/her parents- even a teenage child. They may guess. People may give nicknames or strange pronunciations for names. Today enumerators are told to ask each name to be spelled- regardless of how simple the name is- there are so many variations- Ann or Anne, Jane or Jayne, Smith or Smythor Smythe, etc...However, if a person says "Barbary" and means "Barbara" or "Ivy" and means "Iva" and is not asked to spell it- or cannot spell it, the enumerator wrote down what he/she heard. Another thing to remember- there were really not many spelling conventions until late in the 19th century- and enumerators were more literate than most folks, but not necessarily what we would call literate. By the way, if you have the opportunity to become an enumerator for the 2000 census, you should considerr taking it. It isn't easy, but it is some of the most interesting stuff I have ever done! (It is also extremely hard on your car if you live in any kind of rural type area!) Mary