| Your ancestor's name was NOT always spelled the same way and
this is more often the case in Europe with cultures were often rubbing
shoulders, and names were rubbing off on each other.
The concept of a fixed surname spelling is largely a phenomenon
of the 20th century
How many ways has your name been spelled or pronounced? By this
time in your studies, you should have been collecting a list. The
reason for those different spellings may have had to do with the
fact that your ancestors often could not write, or that many of
the people who created the records your ancestor was recorded in
wrote personal names phonetically.
Some interesting examples were given by David S. Ouimette who wrote
Finding Your Irish Ancestors in 2005 through Ancestry.com.
As he indicated, traditional origins of surnames (with Irish-Gaelic
examples) could have come from someone’s given names, the
place they lived, their occupation, a personal characteristic, including
names given for plants and animals the parents liked. Look at his
examples:
- Given names (e.g. O'Brien, son of Brian)
- Places (e.g. Desmond, from deas-south, Mumhan-Munster)
- Occupations (e.g. O'Riordan, from riogh bhard-royal bard)
- Personal characteristics ( e.g. Kennedy, from ceann-head, eidigh-ugly)
- Plants (e.g. MacDarragh, from dair-oak)
- Animals (e.g. Whelan, from faol-wolf)
With new DNA studies, etymological derivations of names are being
proven. A couple of examples from Ouimette included:
- Stern > Sterne > Etoile > Doualle > Duell >
Noel > Wells
- Perrin > Baptiste > Bettis
Each culture has its own idiosyncrasies when it comes to given
names. Sometimes the selection of given names is guided by religious
custom. Look at all these variations proven in original records:
- Optional affixes: O'Connor vs. Connor; de la Guerra vs. Guerra
- Phonetic equivalents: Barnett vs. Barnet; Johannsen vs. Johanson
- Nicknames: John vs. Jack; Bridget vs. Delia
- Anglicization: Oiumette vs. Wemet; Czelusniak vs. Chalusknak
- Translation: Metzger vs. Butcher; Lesperance vs. Hope
- Dit names: Normandin vs. Beausoleil; Robert vs. Lafontaine
- Abbreviations: Micheal vs. MI; James vs. Jas
- First name and middle name are sometimes swapped by our ancestors
or purposefully given to remind generations of specific ancestors.
If you are stuck on the name to search in Ireland, look at these
resources:
Nora M. Hickey: ‘What's In a Name?' in The Septs,
vol. 13, #4, October 1992
Nora M. Hickey: ‘Is This Why You Didn't Find Your Irish
Ancestor?' in International Society for British Genealogy
and Family History, vol. 17, #3, July-September 1995
Edward MacLysaght: The Surnames of Ireland, Irish Academic
Press
Matheson, Sir Robert F.: Special Report on Surnames in Ireland,
1909, reprinted, GPC, Inc., Baltimore
See also the PDF file of Nora
Hickey’s FGS talk by clicking here. It might help you
as well.
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