Nanci Dru and the Misspelled Name

We all know how Nancy Drew spells her name.  Or do we?  What if you found "Nanci Dru" listed in the census instead of our known spelling?  Would it throw you for a loop?  Perplex you?  Or would you find it somewhat interesting?  Hopefully you would find it interesting, because you will come across many "misspelled" names in genealogy.  Remember, though, that the "correct" spelling of names did not really become important until this past century.  Most people could not read or write (check out some of your ancestors in the census and see if they could).  Some could not even speak English (again, if you have any immigrant relatives, see what their census information says).  Therefore, most names were written down the way they sounded.  And when you add in people of different parts of the country writing down the names they hear other people saying, you have the perfect recipe for "misspelled" names.

Some misspellings are just by one letter.  In the 1900 census, my husband's great-grandfather's family is listed as Burnett.  In 1910, an e was added to the end.  But in 1920, it was back to Burnett.  Other misspellings are downright crazy.  I know I've mentioned my husband's Polish side of the family.  Take the name Gonsiewski.  In 1910, it appears as Gonsiewski, but in 1930, we get Gasiewski.  The craziest is the name Bednarczyk.  In 1910, we have Brnardszyk!  A 1931 Syracuse City directory spelled the name as Bednarezwk!  But if you pronounced those different spellings with a Polish accent, they would all sound similar. 

So how would Nanci Dru go about finding her ancestors?  I think she would get creative and start misspelling all the names.  Type in the known spelling in a search box, then go back and try a "misspelled" name.  Change the y to an i, an ew to a u.  A name starts with an L?  Try searching with a P instead (this worked with another family name, Lara.  The L in the census is rather loopy-looking, like a P.  Because of this, it was indexed as Para instead).  If you have immigrants in your family, do a little research on the native spellings and pronunciations of that language.  That will help when you search for an anglicized form of the name.  And like Nancy Drew, keep investigating!