Is surname variation mostly just because people couldn't read and write?

[Stanwix England]

Hello Everyone,

In my family tree there are a few odd surnames and I'm wondering if they arose just because people didn't know how to write.

For example I've just uncovered a Lison. I also have a Gollagher and a few others like this.

It seems to me that these could just be the more common Leeson and Gallagher except because my ancestors were illiterate, they were recorded differently on the census.

Does that seem like a reasonable explanation?

[Ruskie]

Yes, and because spellings weren't standardised, and in general people probably didn't know or care whether or not their surname was spelled 'correctly' or consistently on all documentation. It is sometimes the case that the same name is even spelled differently on the same document.

People had no idea how their name was recorded when it was written by others (who would have just written what they heard) on certificates, marriage entries etc. In these cases it was irrelevant whether or not the person was literate as it would be unlikely that they would be required to check it. Even today I doubt that we would ask to check if our surname was spelled correctly. Even when spelling out the surname letter by letter, it can still be written wrongly by a third party (I always have to spell my surname and it is still regularly written incorrectly).

Mistakes happen - recent prime example - daughter's surname 'Wright', received letter addressed to 'Right'.  You would expect not to have to spell that surname ...

This (and examples) have been debated many times on rootschat. Maybe a search for "surnames" or some such will bring up previous discussions on the topic. 

[Rena]

It just depends on Education regulations and how far back you go as to whether individuals were illiterate.  Accents and dialects were far more pronounced than they are now and I've found spelling anomalies occurred when an ancestor had moved away from home.  For instance my Norfolk "Shearing" ancestor moved to Cambridgeshire and to the census enumerator's ear his name sounded like "Sharring" and that's what he wrote down.  Meanwhile his uncle had moved from Norfolk to the Midlands and his name was noted as "Shearen".

Other than that, it's often the transcriber of UK records living in foreign lands who mostly mistranscribe names.

[majm]

Passenger lists 19th Century ... vital documnts to trace migrant ancestors...  Spelling variations all over the place... Even where the family head wrote a diary during the voyage... Possible Explanation : Passengers likely could not read 'upside down' as the list would be ffacing the crew...

I have a Gt Gt Granmother travelling with her 4 yr old son ... Her name listed as Eliza ...  the Passenger list shows she is a 'MALE '... .. Which causes much laughter to her living descendents in NSW ...  Would that be a spelling mistake.... Ummmmmm

Cheers JM

[barryd]

I am linked to a family in County Durham with the name of  Freik, or is that Friek, Freick, Frieck or Freak- the are all on some sort of documentation and a few more variations than above. For my computer I had to standardize them. As Ruskie states who cares? 2013 brings us to life. Variation of spelling on your passport and your airline ticket - no fly!

[Erato]

Some name changes were intentional.  All of my Stallas eventually changed their name to Stella, presumably because their name was constantly misunderstood.  Before they made the change they appeared in censuses as Stoller, Staller, Staley, Stahle, etc.

[joboy]

I take the view that people over 100 years (perhaps even 50 years) didn't know how to spell their names and,when it was required (births,deaths,marriages,census,) the cleric or enumerator and/or the person giving the detail may have been hard of hearing or have a speech impediment or drunk or all three.
My one name study/evolution of my own name since 1588 is in the format of an 'Exell' spreadsheet and the variations are quite considerable.
Joe

[KGarrad]

My one name study/evolution of my own name since 1588 is in the format of an 'Exell' spreadsheet and the variations are quite considerable.

Or even an Excel spreadhsheet?!

Or is that another spelling variation?
See how easy it is to introduce variations!

[joboy]

You picked my deliberate mistake KG .......... well done