I choose a "standard" version for the actual Surname - I think you are supposed to use the variation found in the birth/baptism record but I don't always have that when entering someone. I put the actual variants in the source and in the AKAs. I do not put mistranscriptions in the AKAs but I probably should note them somewhere.
Note that spelling wasn't standardised until late in the 19th century and it's common to find variants even in the one document. The advantage of entering someone with a "standard" spelling is that they all sort together in the Name List or Index View. You can turn on AKAs for both but it's not easy to see possible duplicates if you have to scan variant surnames. Cathy Anne Picketts wrote: > > I do it as an a.k.a. - much easier to look for someone in the index. > > On Thu, May 14, 2015 at 3:43 PM, Barton Lewis > <bartonle...@optonline.net <mailto:bartonle...@optonline.net>> wrote: > > I’d like feedback on how people handle alternative spellings of a > surname. My ancestor, Jacob’s will spells his surname BACHTEL. > In the censuses, he spells it: BECHTOL (1830); BACHTEL (1840); > BECHTEL (1850); and BECHTAL (1860). His grave marker spells it > BECHTELL which is the way his father spelled it in the few > documents which survive for him. Is there a best practice for how > to handle these situations? The most used spelling, for example, > or the spelling where it was likely verified (signed) by the party > (e.g., the will)? In the censuses, I would imagine, the party > told the census taker his name and (possibly) spelled it for him, > or not, or even if he did, the census taker wrote it the way he > wanted to. Any thoughts are appreciated.____ > > __ __ > > Barton____ Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://support.legacyfamilytree.com Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
