Hello Lea-Anne: Welcome to the list. You did just fine with the plain text.
As CE Wood said, the system you use for recording names is up to you. Some people insist that the name in the baptismal register is the "official" version and all others are variations. Others are adamant that the name should be entered as the individual was called--and in his/her native language. I think records personally signed by the individual trump all others--if they exist. One of my surnames has over 100 spelling variations and that can quickly make you crazy so I borrowed a system from a respected genealogy database and decide on a "standard" which is used as the preferred spelling for a given family branch. (Different branches frequently used unique spellings so they get a different standard.) Other versions are entered as alternates and there are sometimes 2-3 for an individual. In case you hadn't noticed, the preferred name and all of the alternates show up in Legacy's Name List. That means you don't have to try and remember whether a 3rd great-grandfather went by Davison, Davidson, or Davisson since you could spot him either under the "standard" or under one of the variations from his records. This is a blessing for me since the possible variations begin with Ma, Me, Mi, Mo, and My so they could be very widely scattered in the Name List. What I *don't* do is list every variation from every record as an alternate name. Where a clerk or census enumerator really botched the spelling it shows up in the Source Citation since I record text exactly as it was shown in the original. Don't struggle too hard with getting everything exactly right at the outset. Legacy has a multitude of features that are best learned by doing, and that takes time. Fortunately several of those features make it very easy for you to change your mind or your method later. That's not true in all cases, but it does remove some of the pressure. Kirsten -----Original Message----- From: Lea-Anne Davison [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2010 7:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [LegacyUG] Alternate name recording I am new to this list and I am still navigating around Legacy and learning all its good points. I have imported my file from PAF. My question relates to which is the best way to record the different spelling of my ancestors name. Due to illiteracy the name has been spelt different ways depending on who recorded it eg. parish register, census returns. And finally the way my gr grandfather's name was recorded on his birth registration. Going back 2 or 3 generations before that is where the differences occured. Is the name as recorded on the birth record the "main" name and the way is it spelt on other records during his/her life the alternate name or do I use the name I know now and list all the others as alternate names. Also upon reading other emails on this list, I hope that I have been able to convert this email to plain text. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Regards, Lea-Anne Davison Bargara Queensland Australia Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
