Name Variations in United States Indexes and Records

Before you decide your ancestor is not in an index or record, try the suggestions in this guide. Identifying your ancestors' name in indexes and records may be difficult because of:


 * Spelling errors and spelling changes over time.
 * Errors in reading handwriting.
 * Americanization of foreign surnames.
 * Errors made by an indexer.
 * Errors made by the transcriber of a record

Steps
These 4 steps will help you identify your ancestor's name in indexes and records.

'''Step 1. f you can't find the record, check if the name is spelled a different way.'''

Two kinds of spelling errors are found in records and indexes:


 * The transcriber or indexer misreads the original or mistypes the index entry.
 * The creator of the records mispells the name in the original record.

The following table1 lists problems in indexes and records and suggests possible solutions:

'''Step 2. Apply the suggestions.'''

Using your ancestor's name, experiment with the suggestions made in the table above. Try possible:


 * Alternative or phonetic spellings. Remember to check Spelling Substitution Tables.''
 * Handwriting alternatives.
 * Typos and inadvertent spelling errors.
 * Indexing errors.

'''Step 3. Search the original record.'''

If the record is a copy, the transcriber may have misread the original record. To find the original record:


 * Check the Family History Library Catalog to see if the original record has been filmed. If so, obtain the film and photocopy the page in question.
 * Write to the place where the original record may be housed, such as a court house, state archives, or church. Ask for a photocopy of the page you need.

Compare the copy of the record with the original record, watching for the suggestions made in the table above.

'Step 4. Look for relatives in an index.'''

Look for the names of parents, children, brothers or sisters, and uncles or aunts in the index. If you find relatives in the index, look at the original record to see if the person you want is mentioned in the record but was missed by the indexer.

Related Content
Guessing a Name Variation

Spelling Substitution Tables for the United States and Canada

Traditional Nicknames in Old Documents - A Wiki List

Endnotes

1. Based on a table originally published in G. David Dilts, "Censuses and Tax Lists," in Kory L. Meyerink, ed., Printed Sources: A Guide to Published Genealogical Records (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1998), 339. Here by express permission of the author.