Has anyone had experience in spelling variations for the surname Blacklock?

Question

I have come across Mary Blelloch who was the mother of George Younger - [[Younger-1404|George Younger]] . She married James Younger in 1789. Scotland’s People has two records for the marriage. One in Alloa and one in Clackmannan. This is not unusual however the spelling of her surname is quite different. Though could be similar when spoken. I have other Blacklock/Blackloch on my tree and wonder if  others believe this is the same person and whether this spelling variation has been seen by others..

Note, Mary’ surname is possibly also spelt Bleloch 

YOUNGER	JAMES	MARY BLACKLOCH/FR1520 (FR1520)	15/11/1789	465/	50 309	Alloa	View image (paid)
YOUNGER	JAMES	MARY BLELLOCH/	15/11/1789	466/	40 498	Clackmannan

Comments

You might request a lookup in George Black's Surnames of Scotland, which might give some insight. Someone's bound to have a copy.

I don't see any problem with the variation of Blacklock to Blelloch or any variation (phonetically) of Blaylock. 

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Thanks Bobbie. I didn’t know about that book.

Dee

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The k / l sound switch doesn't seem likely to be confused with the ā / l switch.

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Similar surnames, in order of popularity in the US Census of 2010:

Blalock, Blaylock, Blackstock, Blacklock, Blalack, Blalark, Blackelk, Blaurock, Blakelock

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I think I would assume that it was an error on the part of the recorder, who either misheard the name or wrote it wrong after the fact being unfamiliar with the name. Note that the misspelled version is not her home parish, but the husband's. The two marriage entries are clearly the same couple, so I would simply use the Blacklock spelling as a variation noted in the bio. Then continue looking for Blellocks of various spellings to continue your research, always keeping an open mind when it comes to spelling.

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I agree, Bobbie but you do have to look at the original records or another version that has more information to be sure.

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Agreed, Doug. Interestingly, Family Search indexes the Alloa marriage, but the record for Clackmannan is missing from their index. There are plenty of marriages in the index for the date & location, so I'm not sure what to make of theirs being missing. See:  Event: Marriage, Event Range: 1789-1789, Batch Number: M11466-6 for the full listing of marriages in Clackmannan in 1789 extracted for the IGI. 

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Thanks Bobbie, I will include the Blackstock name as you suggest. I have the original records if anyone has a query in the future.

 I think you are correct. It was likely a spelling or recording error by the Alloa Parish

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This one is very interesting to me! My husband is VP for Clan Douglas Douglas meaning Black Water and of course the Black Douglas. Blaylock is a sept of Clan Douglas! Have your family done the Y DNA test? Male line only failytree.com can maybe also find others with similar names different spellings.

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Hi Mary,

Sorry no Y DNA for Blaylock in my family but maybe someone who has will see your post online and follow up.

Answer 1

Blacks lists Blacklock, Blakloche, Blaiklok, Blalok, Blaiklock, Blackclock, Blaikloch and Blakloik.

He lists Blellock, Bleloch, Blelloch, Blelack and Blailoch as names distinct from the Blacklock names.

Answer 2

Yes, I have actually seen Blaylock too.... as it was a "soundex" for it.

Answer 3

Looking at the records in question, I would actually say that they are the same person. The record for Mary Blelloch (in Clackmannan) says:

James Younger in the Parish of Alloa and Mary Blelloch in this Parish were regularly proclaimed married.

and the record for Blacklock

James Younger     Alloa.    Mary Blacklock    Clackmannan

Answer 4

My family members spell it both ways.  We started off Blalock but some where down the line someone liked the Blaylock spelling better.  Now we have immediate family that spell it both ways.