Which LNAB should have been used at the time of merge?

Question

I had proposed a merge of Lauterback-10 and Louderback-26, leaving the following instructions for whoever ended up being able to actually complete the merge: "Louderback is more consistent with other members of the family and their descendants. Laauterback is closer to father's name in Germany, but Louderback is the Americanized name which would have been used by someone born in North America."

When the merge was completed (surprisingly by someone who is not one of the profile managers), she chose to override my reasoning with the following comment: "Lauterback is the correct Last Name at Birth although both variations are correct. Went with Father's LNAB".

The father's will bears his mark. He was illiterate. How did he spell his last name? He didn't. In the few cases that the name of any member of this family was reduced to writing, it would have been written however whoever was recording it decided it should be spelled. If the father's German name included diacritics, it would probably be clear that a daughter born in America would have an Americanized name.

None of her siblings have a LNAB of Lauterback. Most are Louderback. Wouldn't more consistency in naming make it easier for later researchers to see these siblings as related?

One of the defining features of a wiki is that anyone's additions can be backed out, but in the case of a merge, that doesn't seem true.

Comments

Not long ago someone completed a merge I proposed (for the correct LNAB direction), yet they switched it to the incorrect LNAB because the number was lower.  There would now be an extra redirect because I then had to do a rename.
Extreme care should be taken before any merge is done for this reason.  No matter what the father's name may have been pre-immigration, that it was changed before the children were born says their names should have been the Aglicised version.

Answer 1

I find your reasoning correct: since the parents married in America, the children would have had the Americanized surname of the father as their Last name at Birth.

You are also right about the fact that merges cannot be undone.

It's probably not worth trying to correct her LNAB, though. Looks to me like a situation where the chain of redirects would start getting too long (but what do I know).

Answer 2

Here is what my (artificial intelligence) came up with:

Johan David Lauterbach arrived at Philadelphia from Rotterdam on the ship Samuel, Hugh Percy,  Commander.  He was twenty-three years of age and unmarried. He "qualified" or took the oath of allegiance on August 27, 1739. He settled in Virginia, and his name was there after spelled David Louderback. He married Elizabeth and their home was in Shenandoah County, Va. He was born in 1716 and died in 1793. His will is recorded in that county.

So the original family name got anglicised sometime after 1739 So the grandchildren are expected to have been Louderback although you might find some documents that use the original spelling.   When town clerks record births they often misspell surnames they are not familiar with.
Just my option.
D