Variant spellings of surnames - what to do?
It's probably been addressed before - most likely several times, but due to my short memory recall, here's my question anyway. There are some twenty-odd spellings / variations of my family surname - Gallagher. In most situations, I found the spelling the result of an illiterate, political appointed census enumerator, or some other similar situation... how is the best way to enter that person into Legacy? I realize that we should capture the evidence as we find it, but that can certainly make future evaluations somewhat problematic - e.g., list all the "Gallaghers" - what about the Galligers, the Gallahers, etc.? I have been correcting the surname and entering the recorded spelling as an "AKA." What is the consensus of this highly-learned group? Thanks for your thoughts.
I add the name as it appears in the document (using AKA's if necessary) and then attach the source citation to that particular spelling. It is easy then to see the different spellings and where they were documented. You can see all these under the person's sources or in the chronology tab.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Monique, It's always good to get a "brain check..."
ReplyDeleteagreed put them all in your AKA and you will have them if you want to check spellings and it does print out in reports (we never remember where we saw that odd spelling).
ReplyDeleteFor the "real" name, I use the most common spelling.
ReplyDeleteJust a side note... When I went to Ireland the first time, I happened to be in a pub named "Gallaghers" - where else? A conversation with the barmaid led to an introduction with the owner, Sean Padraig Gallagher. After introducing myself as Raymond Odeen Gallagher, he put his hand on my shoulder and said, " I'm sure that you're one of us, but you had better learn to pronounce your name properly - it's Gallaher - only one "G" - doesn't matter how you spell it." That was 15 years ago, so hence the question regarding which spelling should be used.
ReplyDeleteOn my trip to Newfoundland, I was gently corrected about the pronunciation of my surname and the province by the archivist at the Maritimes facility. And because so few people got our name right in the USA, my grandfather's cousin decided to change the spelling - apparently my grandfather didn't speak to him for a few years over that (and thankfully he never knew that the clerk at the registrar's office spelled his surname "incorrectly" in the birth register) - amazing the spellings and pronunciations we see over time! Thanks for sharing Raymond Gallagher
ReplyDeleteTessa Keough, what IS the "corrected" pronunciation of Newfoundland and your surname? I say Newfunland, and would pronounce your surname as "Keyo".
ReplyDeleteI was told it was like "understand," with the emphasis on land (and I have to say understand in my head before saying Newfoundland). ALTHOUGH I have heard it said several ways, I will take the archivist 's version as he was also from Bonavista Bay where my grandfather was from. As to my surname (Keough) - Keyo is the pronunciation with a slight inflection up on the "yo" - not key oh (inflection down). It took a trip to Newfoundland to learn to say it correctly and a trip to Ireland (and the southeast - Wexford/Carlow) to learn how to say my surname!
ReplyDeleteI truly hope others have had this experience with their surnames or a place name - and it wasn't just me.
I'm sure lots of others have this kind of problem -- well, we do because so many read mine & my husband's last name as BroomFELD, which it is not. It's very English and is actually a place name -- Field of Broom -- which got put together and is pronounced Brum(like rum)FIELD. As for my first name -- that gets spelled and pronounced so many different ways it would probably take a book to explain it :-D Oh, well, what's in a name, right? LOL
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