{"id":8925,"date":"2014-11-20T16:41:13","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T16:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=8925"},"modified":"2015-04-06T14:36:24","modified_gmt":"2015-04-06T14:36:24","slug":"are-you-sure-that-is-how-to-spell-your-ancestors-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/are-you-sure-that-is-how-to-spell-your-ancestors-name.html","title":{"rendered":"Are You Sure That Is How to Spell Your Ancestor\u2019s Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portraits of my Starbird ancestors hang on our wall on the landing at the top of the staircase. Over the years I have chained the family back from Martha Jane (Starbird) Richmond (1836-1905) to Robert Starbird (1782- ) to Moses Starbird (1743-1815) to John Starbird (1701-1753) to Thomas Starbird (1660-1723).<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: Starbird family. Source: Thomas Jay Kemp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All of them lived in Dover, New Hampshire, at some time in their lives, and by the 19th century several of the Starbird lines were living in Gray, Maine.<\/p>\n

Looking in the deep Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> of GenealogyBank, I can quickly find multiple Starbird articles from across centuries of American history.<\/p>\n

[search_box]<\/p>\n

For example, here is a probate notice regarding Catharine Starbird, widow of Moses Starbird, published in 1838.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Portland Weekly Advertiser (Portland, Maine), 1 May 1838, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is an article about John Starbird (1742-1802), who served in the Continental Army. Both he and his brother (my ancestor) Moses Starbird (1743-1815) fought at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

\"article<\/a>
Massachusetts Spy (Worcester, Massachusetts), 30 December 1779, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far so good.<\/p>\n

Their name was \u201cStarbird\u201d and I am finding \u201cStarbird\u201d articles in the old newspapers<\/a>.
\nGood. This is straightforward.<\/p>\n

FamilySearch recently added to their site the \u201cEngland and Wales, Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008<\/a>.\u201d Great\u2014an index to all of the births in England. I thought: let me search there to see if I can determine where in England the Starbird family came from.<\/p>\n

This should be easy family tree research.<\/p>\n

Bang.<\/p>\n

\"screenshot<\/a>
Source: FamilySearch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What? There was only one \u201cStarbird\u201d birth in all of England, going all the way back to 1837?<\/p>\n

How could that be?<\/p>\n

Looking deeper into GenealogyBank, I found this old obituary notice.<\/p>\n

\"obituary<\/a>
Weekly Eastern Argus (Portland, Maine), 26 April 1805, page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is for a son of John \u201cStarboard\u201d from Gray, Maine.
\nOh\u2014that\u2019s it.
\nThe name could have been spelled \u201cStarbird\u201d or \u201cStarboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I think of it\u2014I pronounce both words exactly the same way.<\/p>\n

[search_box]<\/p>\n

So\u2014let\u2019s do a quick double-check in the FamilySearch index to British birth records with this new spelling.<\/p>\n

This time the search results were zero.<\/p>\n

Zero \u201cStarboard\u201d births and only one \u201cStarbird\u201d birth\u2014what is going on here?<\/p>\n

I can find a ton of \u201cStarbird\u201d references in America but none in Britain.
\nIs there another spelling of the surname?<\/p>\n

I have seen where some genealogists have suggested that Thomas Starbird (1660-1723) of Dover, New Hampshire, was the son of Edward Starbuck (1604-1690) who was also from Dover.<\/p>\n

Would Thomas really have changed his name from Starbuck to Starbird?<\/p>\n

Alfred A. Starbird, author of Genealogy of the Starbird-Starbard Family<\/em> (Burlington, Vermont: The Lane Press), looked at this\u2014especially since another Starbird historian said that Thomas Starbird had changed his name from Starbuck\u2014but concluded \u201cnothing has been found to support this claim.\u201d<\/p>\n

The title of his book gives us another variant spelling of this surname: \u201cStarbard.\u201d So, I tried that spelling in the FamilySearch\u2014again zero references.<\/p>\n

So\u2014what about the spelling \u201cStarbuck\u201d?
\nI repeated the search, and that spelling produced over 5,000 English birth records.<\/p>\n

Is it that simple\u2014Thomas simply changed his name from Starbuck to Starbird?
\nWould that be a logical name change?
\nIs there another explanation?<\/p>\n

Have any of our readers found a record proving who the parents of Thomas Starbird (1660-1723) of Dover, New Hampshire, were? If so, I would like to know.<\/p>\n

Do you know any current men named Starbird or Starbuck who are willing to take a DNA test? That might be the only way we find the answer to this question.<\/p>\n

What say you?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be interested in your comments.<\/p>\n

Related Ancestor Name Research Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n