Recording Surname Variants on Family Trees

[gpearey]

Hi,

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere. I have been inputting my research on my family tree and would like to hear people's opinion on how they record surnames and their variants.

I have obtained birth certificates for my PEAREY ancestors after 1837 and how this is recorded on the birth certificate is what I record on my tree. With a name like Pearey, you can imagine that all sorts of variants exists, never mind whether someone could read or write and they are asked to spell the name.

When I go further back I have an ancestor who was baptised in 1833 and in the parish record, the surname is recorded as PIERY. Later on in the census entries it refers back to PEAREY again.

This may be down to personal opinion but I would like to hear what people' views are on this.

Many thanks
Graham

[Colin Cruddace]

Hi Graham,

What I do is record them in a standard family name, but record the various entries as they were written. This helps in locating records in my family tree program.

Regards,
Colin

[barryd]

I have a Freik family from the Lanchester, Annfield Plain and Dipton area of County Durham. There are also Friek, Freick, Freick, Frick and Freak variants all in the same family. One owned a Public House and had his and his wife's picture was taken under the proprietor sign so I standardized the name from there. Too complex to be changing the name so often on the computer.

[pinefamily]

As both Colin and Barryd have said, it is easier to pick one spelling, and stick to it. Record any variations you may find in attached notes for future reference. This way, you keep track of the various spellings you encounter, but keep finding individuals in your family tree program simple.

[jim1]

I agree with others otherwise it becomes too complicated having to search all the variations when looking for an individual.
You have the original documents with the variants on so you don't really need to record them by those.

[pinefamily]

Another way of looking at it is the surname didn't actually change; only the way people spelled it did over the generations, and in different localities.

[gpearey]

Many thanks to all who responded, it is very much appreciated.  I guess that the key is to be able to ensure that I can go back and cross reference where I found the information, so as long as I record any variants to the main name, people after me will be able to follow this.

Thanks again.

Graham

[joboy]

If you are sure,with the information to hand,that that the variant fits into what you need then save it as 'yours' you can always change it later if something changes.
We all have variants and even more so if the name is unusual or uncommon.
Joe