It seems like the birth dates in the 1880 census have a tendency to be off by several years.

Question

Has anyone else noticed this?  Is there a reason the birth years are off?

Comments

I appreciate all the responses.  In many of the 1880 census images I've looked at ages can be 3-5 years off, much more than in the other census images.  Seems like areas in lower Alabama are the worst.

Answer 1

I think birthdates are given by who ever answered the questions. I am always open to accepting some variance!

If you ask me right  now how old my son is, I will need to "do the math".

I notice lots of variance in names, too. Spelling, use of middle name, recording initials only, nicknames.

All of these variables enforce the need to have more than one source.

Comments

Agreed.

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I have to 'do the math' for my *own* age LOL.  Last year I kept telling everybody I was a year older than I am - oh well, I never was very good at mathematics hehe.

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Well, I wasnʻt going to mention that I have to figure mine out, too.

My sister-in-law who was born in 1946 is convinced she is 82.  She forgot her math. I should not laugh, she does have dementia.

Answer 2

The form does specify "age at last birthday prior to June 1, 1880", but again it does come down to who was answering the question.

Answer 3

To be honest, I think a lot of people did not know their exact ages. You will also see a lot of "ladies' vanity" with women deducting a few years from their age. Often when people became very elderly, their age would be reported as very old, 90-100, when from previous censuses it would seem more likely they were 75-85. I can just imagine the census-taker asking the stone-deaf grandma her age and her replying with something like, "Oh I'm darn enough 100 years old."