Question Home

Position:Home>Arts & Humanities> How do you trace a surname if the spelling is an uncommon varient of a common na


Question:

How do you trace a surname if the spelling is an uncommon varient of a common name?

The surname is Clarke but in the past I haven't had much luck with tracing back with that side of my family. The "e" on the end makes it very difficult because to me it seems rare compared to just Clark which is a very common English surname. A while back I had a genealogy project and I asked my father and he had said that his grandfather had immigrated from Ireland and it was originally Clark but the E was added when he came to America. I'm not sure if he was being completely serious but his grandmother's maiden name was O'Mahoney which to me sounds like the epitome of Irish names. I guess my question really is has anyone ever heard of Clark spelled with an E at the end before? Maybe it is more popular than I think.


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You need to understand that here in the UK in the 18th & 19th centuarys the only people who could read were the verey well off and the Clergy. The Clergy were University educated but could not always understand what was said to them.

As a result you will find the same peoples surname spelt different ways, you just have to learn to use your best instints and take nothing for granted, Good Luck and Good Hunting.