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re: Went down the ancestry rabbit hole: Why would someone change spelling of last name?
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:10 pm to weagle99
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:10 pm to weagle99
There can be some VERY legitimate reasons to change spellings of a surname during the course of a family's history. (And frequently BECAUSE of a family's history.)
Surname: T***is
Origin: Scotland
Associated with House of Stuart and Scottish Nobility.
Variant 1:
T***os
Reason for change: Sided with England against Scottish crown. (Traitors)
Variant 2:
T***us
Reason: They molested sheep during daylight hours when everyone could see what they were doing, thus bringing shame to the family that could not be denied. (Even the T***os traitors shun this sect.)
Surname: T***is
Origin: Scotland
Associated with House of Stuart and Scottish Nobility.
Variant 1:
T***os
Reason for change: Sided with England against Scottish crown. (Traitors)
Variant 2:
T***us
Reason: They molested sheep during daylight hours when everyone could see what they were doing, thus bringing shame to the family that could not be denied. (Even the T***os traitors shun this sect.)
This post was edited on 12/21/21 at 3:35 pm
0
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:10 pm to weagle99
Horse thief.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:12 pm to weagle99
Happened in my family as well. Only met one person that spells their last name the same as mine that I wasn't kin to. I'm not sure that we aren't kin.
It was changed from "less" to "lis" great, great, great grandfather didn't like the "less" part. He left Georgia and came to La to start out on his own.
It was changed from "less" to "lis" great, great, great grandfather didn't like the "less" part. He left Georgia and came to La to start out on his own.
This post was edited on 12/21/21 at 3:19 pm
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:16 pm to weagle99
Were they literate or did someone change it for them? No offense intended, literacy wasn't as common in the 1800s.
Did the change make the name seem less ethnic?
Did the change make the name seem less ethnic?
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:22 pm to USMCguy121
quote:
Miller vs. Mueller.
This happened quite a lot during the anti-German fervor prior to World War 1. Braun-to-Brown, etc. Our family dropped the first "i" and the last "e" of our surname sometime around the Civil War.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:29 pm to weagle99
My maternal grandfather’s last name is different than his parents and siblings.
It’s supposed to have an S on the end but they left it off of his birth certificate so him and my mom and her siblings have the name with no S
It’s supposed to have an S on the end but they left it off of his birth certificate so him and my mom and her siblings have the name with no S
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:32 pm to facher08
quote:
Riff in the family.
Like on a guitar?
My family didn't pass down any cool shite
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:51 pm to weagle99
Literacy rates and different spellings in different languages are usually the 2 culprits.
Things weren't as "official" then as now. Your name was spelled however the county clerk or local minister/priest thought it was spelled.
Things weren't as "official" then as now. Your name was spelled however the county clerk or local minister/priest thought it was spelled.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 3:56 pm to bleeng
quote:
My paternal family's middle name was changed when my dad was born.
That's a thing? Do you mean everyone on your dad's side had the same middle name?
Posted on 12/21/21 at 4:08 pm to weagle99
The only vowels in my great grandfather’s original last name were Ys. He Americanized it when he immigrated to America in the 1890s.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 4:51 pm to weagle99
My great great great grandfather fought with the British in the revolutionary war. He was German and was an officer. They were promised sizable pieces of land for their efforts. He changed the spelling of his last name and moved to the south to avoid imprisonment.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 5:27 pm to weagle99
My wife’s family did this sometime in the late 1800’s. Her maiden name is Desselle but older documents had it as Desselles. Don’t know why they dropped the s
Posted on 12/21/21 at 5:42 pm to LegendInMyMind
This. I knew someone that had a minor change in their last name years ago while bootlegging.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 6:37 pm to RedDirtPoke
A friend of mine has a simple four letter last name. He researched a couple of generations back and found some of the family that lived on the other side of the river had extra 'e' on the end. He found out each side of the river had a different census taker. The families were most likely illiterate and each census taker spelled it the way they thought was correct and the name followed onward.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 6:44 pm to weagle99
quote:
Why would someone change spelling of last name?
Usually to sound and be more American. Wife's ancestor was born in the 1890s in Salerno Italy with first name Anunziata, and died as Nancy in New York.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 6:58 pm to weagle99
A lot of reasons already touched on in the thread including:
Illiteracy
Bureaucratic errors (e.g census or immigration)
Modification to match local culture
I'll add a couple I learned about while doing some genealogy:
"Last" names were not necessarily permanent in some cultures- although they were special and meaningful indications of familial and geographical history
For example some Scandinavian countries used two "last" names for people. The first might be the name of the town or region where you lived (and could therefore sometimes change during your lifetime if your family moved) and the second would often be an indication of paternity- with boys named Johnson or Johnsen for example and girls named Johnsdatter for example
Illiteracy
Bureaucratic errors (e.g census or immigration)
Modification to match local culture
I'll add a couple I learned about while doing some genealogy:
"Last" names were not necessarily permanent in some cultures- although they were special and meaningful indications of familial and geographical history
For example some Scandinavian countries used two "last" names for people. The first might be the name of the town or region where you lived (and could therefore sometimes change during your lifetime if your family moved) and the second would often be an indication of paternity- with boys named Johnson or Johnsen for example and girls named Johnsdatter for example
This post was edited on 12/21/21 at 7:08 pm
Posted on 12/21/21 at 7:16 pm to weagle99
Owlie’s American ancestry earned their surnames…
Posted on 12/21/21 at 7:29 pm to molsusports
I run into this a lot with my Southern ancestors. Stephenson went to Stinson, then Stevenson, then back to Stephenson. Adkins/Atkins. Harding/Hardin. Makes it difficult on us amateur genealogists!
Posted on 12/21/21 at 7:47 pm to NOLAGurl
quote:
t does seem a funny story but sounds untrue. It got me curious, since it is true nearly all the "x" names are Acadian. -eaux is a plural of French nouns ending in -eau. It doesn't seem there is any clear answer why the plural form was adopted here, but it is known in standard French for, say "two houses" - deux chateaux".
The west end of Prince Edward Island in Canada is full of people of French heritage who have names that end in eaux. The land even looks like south Louisiana (in the summer time) and the accents are similar. The food is better in Louisiana though, by far.
Posted on 12/21/21 at 8:14 pm to weagle99
A few things which may have already been mentioned. There was a ton of discrimination against the Irish around the time of the Civil War. Then you had WW1 during which letters were dropped or names changed completely because of anti-German sentiment. My wife's ancestors changed their name after becoming outlaws in Tennessee. It's why she had a very generic last night before we got married. My dad was adopted so I have zero blood from the location my last name is associated with.
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