Steve, When I run into that situation, I spell the name as it is normally spelled by a family in the text body unless I am referring to a specific document with another spelling. For that instance, I use the spelling the document does. If the spelling is bizarre then I place the usual spelling after it in brackets. You can also put the variations in quote marks. If it is for a citation, you may want to consider bracketed spellings, but this also can become cumbersome. I point out at the beginning of every work-product that spellings will be kept as they are in documents and in document references. I state this clearly in italics with space around it and sometimes discuss the fact that spellings were fluid in earlier times. In a recent case, the normal spelling was Ryan. I found Rian, Rhine, Rhines, Rine, and Renn (thank you German clerks) among others. 'Roan' had to be investigated, but alas, he was a Rine. Rondina _______________________ Rondina P. Muncy Ancestral Analysis 4008 Linden Avenue Fort Worth, Texas 76107 682.224.6584 rondina.muncy@gmail.com www.ancestralanalysis.com On Sat, Oct 20, 2012 at 6:52 PM, Steve Dahlstrom < genealogy@stevedahlstrom.com> wrote: > > I am working on a client report. The family surname is found with various > spellings: Wait/Waitt/Waite/etc. in the report I have tried to use the > spelling that appears in the record I am describing, but this tends to be > confusing when referring to the same person. Should I do this, or adopt a > consistent spelling and make a comment that the actual records may vary? > > How have you handled similar situations? > > Steve Dahlstrom > > Sent from my iPhone > > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive > environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to > professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Thanks to everyone for your help. I will address it in an opening statement, use the most common form for the subject, and note variances in quotes. I like the var. method rather than the slash. As ESM notes, it is more readable. Steve Dahlstrom Sent from my iPad On Oct 20, 2012, at 8:15 PM, Rondina Muncy <rondina.muncy@gmail.com> wrote: > Steve, > > When I run into that situation, I spell the name as it is normally spelled by a family in the text body unless I am referring to a specific document with another spelling. For that instance, I use the spelling the document does. If the spelling is bizarre then I place the usual spelling after it in brackets. You can also put the variations in quote marks. If it is for a citation, you may want to consider bracketed spellings, but this also can become cumbersome. > > I point out at the beginning of every work-product that spellings will be kept as they are in documents and in document references. I state this clearly in italics with space around it and sometimes discuss the fact that spellings were fluid in earlier times. > > In a recent case, the normal spelling was Ryan. I found Rian, Rhine, Rhines, Rine, and Renn (thank you German clerks) among others. 'Roan' had to be investigated, but alas, he was a Rine. > > Rondina > _______________________ > Rondina P. Muncy > Ancestral Analysis > 4008 Linden Avenue > Fort Worth, Texas 76107 > 682.224.6584 > rondina.muncy@gmail.com > www.ancestralanalysis.com > > > On Sat, Oct 20, 2012 at 6:52 PM, Steve Dahlstrom <genealogy@stevedahlstrom.com> wrote: > > I am working on a client report. The family surname is found with various spellings: Wait/Waitt/Waite/etc. in the report I have tried to use the spelling that appears in the record I am describing, but this tends to be confusing when referring to the same person. Should I do this, or adopt a consistent spelling and make a comment that the actual records may vary? > > How have you handled similar situations? > > Steve Dahlstrom > > Sent from my iPhone > > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >