Shakespeare was right, at least when it comes to genealogy. Someone’s name - in a way - is irrelevant. More specifically, the way someone’s name is spelled is often irrelevant.

“Our surname has always been spelled with two “l”s.”

“Her middle name was Arlene, not Eileen.”

“His name was Francis Michael, not Michael Francis.”

“There’s always been a debate about whether it should be spelled ‘Gilmor” or “Gilmore.”

On almost every report I write for clients, I find myself making a footnote like this:

Surname spellings vary: [name 1], [name 2], [name 3]. [Name 1] is is used here, except in citations and transcriptions, where names appear as they do in the sources.”

How can this be? Because consistent spelling of names is a relatively modern thing.

“There has never been a time when names have had a standardized spelling. In early church records it was up to a priest how the names were spelled and different priests within the same parish had different ideas on how names should be spelled. When a census taker recorded a person's name the census taker decided the name was spelled.” (Source: FamilySearch)

If you think about it, this makes sense. In 1475, the literacy rate in what is today’s United Kingdom was 14%. (Source: Our World in Data) Your 13x great-grandparent wasn’t telling the scribe “My last name is spelled ‘Pierce,’ not ‘Peirce.” The scribe decided how to spell their name, and did it phonetically. What happened when that person with a German surname moves to a country where English is the primary language and there’s no such thing as an eszett (ß)? How is that English speaker going to write the name?

And it’s not just literacy that affects names.

• Baptismal records are full of names like Georgius and Fredericus and Magdalena, but those children went on to be called George and Fred and Mary by everyone they knew.

• Think of those parents you know who introduced you to their newborn saying, “We named him Charles Phillip Jones, but we’re calling him Chappy.” (Poor kid.)

• What about your Facebook friends from kindergarten who use their maiden and married names, so people from all stages of their life can find them?

Are you named after your aunt Margaret Leigh, so everyone calls her Margaret and you Leigh?

These are the types of things we consider when doing genealogy research. Don’t be too set in finding your ancestor’s name exactly as you believe it to have been spelled or arranged or you might spend months looking for Robert Francis Greene when Frank Green is right in front of you. If you need help figuring out if they really are the same person, let me know. I’d love to help!