Karlushko, Most forms in America have a first name field and a surname field. There is no field for a pre-surname. So if your first name is Ricardo, then your last name is da Silva and if you put da Silva in the surname field, surnames must be capitalized so they wind up putting Da Silva. Some people run it together and some don't. If you are in Hawaii and the person writing your information down is Chinese, the understanding between the two people gets to be difficult. Even for people in New York (with their regional accents) trying to understand someone from a culture they don't know about is hard. I have cousins who surname should have been Mello and it's Miller. It's the way it was in history. And back in history they couldn't spell their name. Or write. Makes it a little bit more challenging!
In all the genealogy classes, lectures, and seminars I have been to, it usually comes up that we have to be creative in figuring out surnames. Just the way it is. I don't know about where you live, but I think literacy in America started to come about more in the early 1900s. The 1800s and before there weren't as many literate people. And speaking of naming fields, when I flew last month, I filled in my first name, my middle initial, and my last name. So instead of printing Cheryl L. Mello on my ticket, it said Cheryll Mello. Someone at Delta needs to program a space in there for a middle initial. I know how to spell my first name. The computer screwed it up. It happened another time on Delta too. LOL Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
