Is it Reed or Reid or Read?

Question

I just found an existing profile (by sheer luck) .. should I change the LNAB from the string "Reed Reid" to just Reed, then ensure those names are in the Other Last Name field?

Although LNAB should reflect the birth or baptism, no record has yet been found for those. It seems in this case appropriate to use the last name found on records. I just added a probate record source for the found profile.

(Background: I was searching to see if a profile existed but there was no match, so I searched the spouse, and found the one I was looking for.)

Comments

In my opinion, Reed is the better choice as Ezekial's probable birth surname.

My choice is based on my review of the records attached to both Ezekial's and his father's FamilySearch.org profiles, as well as my opinion on the likelihood of finding authoritative birth/baptism records for Ezekial.

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Thanks Lindy, I agree.

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My name is spelled Reed.  In my search it has been spelled that way for the last 100 years.  However when you start going back further in time, it depends on who the writer or some census takers understood the spelling.  This was due to the people taking the census or writing a family history just did not know which it was.   Then in the census taking, the children spelled the their names differently.  So  whether you spell it, Reed, Reid, Read, Reade, Reede, etc. it still means the same.  Today you are proud of how you and your friends call you and spell your name.  Please remember my name is Richard A. REED.  My spelling.  Good luck on yours.  

Answer 1

Depending on year birth,if before reading and writing were learned,would be meaningless,person writing document

had too guess as too spelling of name.

Comments

Oh, wayne you are too too

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What does too too mean ???????????

Answer 2

The family appeared to use Reed.  I found a biography of a son Luman Reed in an Ogle county, IL history.  Given that the Reed spelling is also on the tombstone, I think you could safely use the surname Reed.

https://ogle.illinoisgenweb.org/lumanreedbio.htm

Comments

Thanks Charlotte. Yes they did use Reed. And they all married within related families. And Ezekiel is probably related to Samuel (my ancestor) but that clue has yet to appear.