Could it be possible for me to be related to her multiple times?

Question

It is entirely possible that my grandmother's grandmother was a Howard instead of Havard. After all, they do sound alike when you prounciate them.

Comments

Catherine Howard is my first cousin, twelve times removed.

Answer 1

Learning about the Howard name I have discovered that up until sometime around the 1800’s how you spelled your name was how you phonetically pronounce it.  Then how each member spelled their name galvanized and came to be how we spell them today.

The origin for the Howard name is debatable..  “hedge guard”and “chief warden” are a couple of ideas of it’s meaning.   Most believe Howards descend from the famous warrior Hereward the Wake,  and that from Hereward all other Howard names come from.   Other names associated with Hereward (and Howard for that matter) are Harvard, Havard, Hayward, Heyword, Hoard, etc.

There were also two distinct Howards in medieval England..  the ethnicity Welsh Howards of Norfolk and Effingham,  a noble family of the southeast.   The other family  were commoners and came from the west coast of England. They were ethnically Scandinavian,  from the Norse settlements (where pronunciations like “Havard” undoubtedly originated.

I hope this helped you in any way.