When you are fairly certain that your family lived in a particular area but are having no luck finding them in the records, it is time to get creative. Searching for alternate spellings of surnames is always important in genealogy, but you need to be sure to go beyond looking only for the traditional alternatives. Not only did families often change the spelling of their surname slightly to “Americanize,” to aid in pronunciation, or just to set themselves apart, but surnames were also often misspelled in records by accident. People were not as well educated in the past as they are today and names may have been written as they sounded or even just “invented.” Get creative when identifying alternate surname spellings for your family and don’t be afraid to try the odd or unexpected. The new alternate surname spellings that you create may be just the thing you need to demolish your brick wall.

My fairly innocuous CRISP surname was also traditionally spelled CHRISP. Going beyond the expected, however, I have also found them in records under CHRYSP, CRIPS, CRIP and even CRIS – all in the same county of Edgecombe, NC. With Henrietta’s MARIN surname I didn’t have as much luck. The obvious alternate was MARTIN and I even branched out to search surnames such as MYERS. Having no luck with these alternate spellings was what finally got me to thinking that maybe the surname was incorrect in the first place.

For more information:

Creativity Required - Alternative Surname Spellings
Thinking 'out of the box' is often required when it comes to finding your ancestors in genealogical indexes and records. Get inspired when it comes to searching for alternative surname spellings with these quick tips.

How to Use Soundex Codes
Learn how to use the Soundex coding system to search for alternate variations of your surname in U.S. Census and other records.

Surname Meanings & Origins
Learn about the origin of your surname, the history and meaning of your surname, if your surname is common and where it is common, and the how and why of name changes and variant spellings.

Deciphering Old Handwriting
Learn how to accurately read and decipher the handwriting of your ancestors.