{"id":59555,"date":"2020-06-26T11:19:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T15:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=59555"},"modified":"2024-06-26T11:47:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-26T15:47:42","slug":"genealogy-tip-spelling-variations-for-your-ancestors-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/genealogy-tip-spelling-variations-for-your-ancestors-name.html","title":{"rendered":"Genealogy Tip: Spelling Variations for Your Ancestor\u2019s Name"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega gives tips for using name variations and nicknames for better results searching your ancestor\u2019s name. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Recently, I was thumbing through a 1946 edition of Ripley\u2019s Believe It or Not<\/em> and I came across this Shakespeare fact. (1)<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: entry on Shakespeare\u2019s name. Credit: Ripley\u2019s Believe It or Not; Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4,000 spellings! That\u2019s a lot of name variations. Think about how boring you must be to only spell your name one way!<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: entry showing variations of Shakespeare\u2019s name. Credit: Ripley\u2019s Believe It or Not; Gena Philibert-Ortega.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But in all seriousness, we need to keep the Bard and his 4,000 name variations in mind as we research. Even though we may think our ancestor spelled their name just one way, that doesn\u2019t mean everyone who came in contact with them (clerks, government officials, friends, journalists) spelled it the same way. This is especially important as we search GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for our ancestor.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s More than One Way to Spell John<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any given name is going to have spelling variations, misspellings, and nicknames. For example, consider the name John. It might be:<\/p>\n