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Archiver > IRISH-AMERICAN > 2002-10 > 1033660246


From: Pat Connors <>
Subject: Re: [Irish-American] HYNES / HINES Co. Cork
Date: Thu, 03 Oct 2002 08:50:46 -0700
References: <20021003131941.99405.qmail@web11406.mail.yahoo.com>


When doing genealogy research, one should search all the variations of
your ancestor's surname. You didn't waste time looking for Hines and
the 1880 census may be your ancestor. My O'Connor surname is sometimes
spelled O'Connors, O'Conner, Connors, Conners, Connor, Conner, Conor,
Coner, etc. My Flynn name is seen as Flyn, Flinn etc., Campbell is many
times Cambell. McEntee is seen as McIntee, McAnty, even McEntire!

The names are misspelled not only in the US but in Ireland for many
reasons. First of all, the names were originally Irish. The English
then spelled the names phonetically. I have seen Irish church records
where the priest spelled our name Conners, rather than O'Connor. When
the Irish came to the US, people who processed them in often spelled
their names wrong again. Then the census enumerators did another job on
their names. The enumerators were usually not of the same nationality
and listening to a foreign accent. I do much transcription of census
data and you can't believe how they spell some of these names.

So bottom line...search ALL spellings of your surname otherwise, you
might miss valuable information about your family.

--
Pat Connors, Sacramento CA
http://www.connorsgenealogy.com
All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by Norton 2002





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