Surname changed from Cain to Caine with father and son

Question

My gr gr grandfather spelled his name Lewis Cain in all documents but his father, John Caine, almost exclusively shows it as Caine.  I have just added John Cain's profile and am now thinking I should really show it as John Caine.

How do you all handle this when the spelling of the name is changed.  Can I change the profile to Caine now that it is already set up?

thanks

Comments

Hello, Karen!

I would recommend putting Caine in the Current Last Name field instead of changing the Last Name at Birth - unless you have birth-related documentation that uses the alternate spelling.

There is rarely a reason to hurry (or worry about changing!) to change any LNAB, especially without proper sources for the change.

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Thanks so much everyone.  Of course the Cain name is used with so many spellings I really didn't know if it made much difference to change it or not.
Just was wondering the typical protocol here on Wiki Tree
Appreciate the answers
Karen

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Cain and Caine are interchangeable on records here in the Isle of Man. Records were being written by people other than the person in question and as you go further back in time, the person in question could often not read/write.

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While it is true that other people make mistakes with Cain/Caine, it is also not uncommon to have 'inter cain(e)' marriages in a family tree, so it is worth taking a little care to match the correct spellings. Where it becomes a problem is when later birth certificates DO have the wrong spelling, so recording just when a mistake has been made should be part of the notes on the records.

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All good answers.  My suggestion is to leave an explanation somewhere on profile, similar to your first sentence.  Acknowledging alternate spellings is often necessary and helps to keep them all relevant and in context in the profile.  It also may avoid disagreements.

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Steve,  Yes, I like your suggestion.  Because I have researched our family for so many years I presume everyone knows to check alternate spellings but that is not always the case for newbies to genealogy.

I believe I will add notes in the Bio as to the documents and name spelling differentiations.  Thanks

Answer 1

Cain other spelling, You see this because whoever wrote it down had to guess how it was spelled.Most people were not educated,could not read

or write or spell.