Variant spellings where one letter has been changed or added are easy to understand, recognize, and locate. Other variants are a little more difficult to see immediately. One way to discover more creative variants is to say the name or location to someone unfamiliar with the area and the family. Try saying in with an accent as well.
That’s probably how in one record Mercer County, Kentucky, became Marshall County, Kentucky.
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That’s how Concord Cemetery in Yazoo County, MS became “Corn Cob Cemetery” on the death certificate.
That’s too funny!
But one can see how it would happen.
I have ancestors from Belgium whose last name is Huyge. I have found it spelled 4-5 different ways. On one census the family’s last name is listed as Enker. Still haven’t figured out how that one came about, the best I can come up with is the census taker had trouble with the accent.
I try and learn how my immigrants likely said their name, but sometimes that’s not possible.
I have a 2x great-grandmother who is listed as “Gemima” in one census and “Famiah” in another. This is in Alabama and Texas in 1900-1910. They were not immigrants and her real name was Mina. How in the world could someone have gotten “Famiah”? Granted the handwriting is a little difficult, but it’s definitely nowhere close to her real name.
We’ll never know how clearly the “reporter” said the name…nor how well the census taker was able to hear.
It’s even possible that the C.T. had a daughter Mina…and when the reporter said Mina, he “automatically” wrote “Femina” because that’s the way they spelled it at his home.