How to Find Surname Variations
How to find surname variations can be one of the most important skills a Family Historian can give themselves.
Surname Variations is probably the most common discrepancy you will find in documents when you are searching for your ancestors.
Naming conventions have changed over time, resulting in many variations of the same surname. The reason for this is because of different languages, cultures, and spelling rules. Many of these variations are a result of transcription errors, but they can also be due to immigrants who changed their surnames to fit in better with the local population.
One of the most common sources of surname variations is the introduction of different languages. For example, many German immigrants to English-speaking countries changed their surnames to a more English-sounding versions. For example, Schmidt became Smith, Müller became Miller, and so on.
Similarly, French and Spanish immigrants often changed their surnames to fit in better with the English language.
In addition to language and cultural differences, spelling errors can also cause surname variations. In the past, this was especially true for those who were illiterate or had difficulty with English. As a result, names were often spelled differently or misspelled, leading to variations.
There are a number of other reasons these discrepancies can occur as well:
1. Incorrect writing down at the time of document creation. (Written as they were heard),
2. Natural Changes in the spelling over the years,
3. Purposeful changes to the spelling by an ancestor,
4. Different languages have different spelling conventions, so names that originated in one language would be spelled differently when translated into another.
5. People often acquired nicknames that were different from their official names, and these would often be recorded as surnames.
6. Or more recently, by bad transcriptions from original documentation to modern databases.
But, as with most things in life, there are a number of methods we can try to get around this obstacle and find the person we are looking for.
These include but are not limited to:
1. Sound out the surname and then try to spell it as it sounds,
2. Hold your nose to simulate cold and see how it sounds,
3. Say the name in an accent associated with the region your person lived,
4. Look for any possible Silent Letters, eg Ghert written as Gert
5. Look for Commonly Misread Letters: C, G, F, I, O, J etc (especially lowercase),
6. Consider Possible Typing Errors
7. Add or Remove an Ending ‘S’ eg Lyons / Lyon
8. If the surname has a “k” sound, as in Shoemaker, also check using a “ch”, as in Shoemacher (This also applies to other letters such as “y” and “i”)
9. If the name contains an “ie”, it may also have been registered as an “ei”, and
10. Translate the Immigrant Surname – Look for the surname in both the original language and the English translation. eg Schmied in German translates to Smith in English
Work your way through the list trying each method as you go and write down any surname variations you come up with. Then conduct your research as you normally would using the surname variations you found and hopefully this will lead to the person you have been looking for.
If you still can’t find the person, try broadening your search by using other criteria such as first name, date & place of birth, occupation, spouse name etc, but without using the surname. You can also search for close relatives if you know their details and find the person you are looking for in another document or database
If you know of any other methods that I have not listed here, please email me with them and I will research and add them to this page.