About using the *original* spelling of the name - genealogical computer programs will not link those persons to another with a different spelling, as a general rule. Do you know of any such genealogy program which allows such flexibility? And what kind of family group sheets do you get? To solve the linkage problem, say, on a family group sheet, a pedigree sheet, or an ahnentafel, I think it better to use one spelling and then follow that with something like this: aka [also known as] ...... [with the name spelled as on the document which you find. However, the next document may have a quite different spelling. One of the names in my lineage is Harris. Simple, eh wot? No--in Madison Co., KY, in a one paragraph deed, the clerk spelled Harris three different ways--with a double s at the end and then inserting a y instead of an i. I think he was bored with his job and decided to be creative. Those of us who have foreign names in our lineage have to choose one way to spell --for the computer's sake, but try to differentiate in various ways. For example, I may have hundreds of Elizabeths in my program, and most without a maiden name. So, I may add *wife of ...... * We have to bend to the requirements of the genealogical program in order to get the charts we want. E.W.Wallace **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001)