Variations in the Spelling of a Surname (Announce)

by rookancestrybest , United Kingdom, Thursday, November 05, 2009, 20:46 (5503 days ago) @ peteressex

I have a Stead(e) referred to as Steele in records, the latter is definitely wrong but some official records state it.
I also, (on another side of the family not related to the Forest of Dean people) have a very rare name which was spelt many, many, ways, presumably because people weren't familiar with it. A priest appears to have crossed it out twice and put a more common name that sounds like the name, presumably because he didn't believe what he'd been told! With RC records also English names were translated into their Latin equivalents so it is difficult to determine whether someone was know as Maria, or Mary, Marie, etc. unless there is another record to back it up.
The other thing to bear in mind is when transcriptions have been made that deciphering the handwriting can be a factor. I think the literacy of those who gathered census information is sometimes not what it should have been either. Even earlier records may also be from the time before spellings were formalised (i.e. before Dr. Johnson's dictionary).