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Miscellaneous

Surname Slip-Ups: Baffling Beginnings

Carol Baxter
Apr 9, 2021
6.5K views
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Syllabus
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Content

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Welcome
29s
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Speaker's Introduction
1m 14s
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Introduction
3m 12s
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Overview
7m 36s
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Finding Surnames
4m 15s
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Surname Sounds
23m 33s
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Sound Pairs
6m 56s
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Announcements / prizes
49s
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Questions / answers
1m 46s

About this webinar

It is a truth universally acknowledgement that if we can't find our ancestor's surname, our chances of tracing that ancestral line are pretty much zip, zero, zilch. But a known surname can also prove elusive because it is recorded in such a way that we cannot locate it. This too can prove genealogically disastrous. As it turns out, most surname 'distortions' follow decipherable patterns. Like a dart thrown at a dartboard, if it misses the bulls-eye, it usually hits one of the outer rings. These 'outer rings' are of two types: sound distortions (e.g. Ahearn/Ohearn) and spelling distortions (e.g. Rourke/Bourke). The surnames that are the most difficult to locate are those that experience distortions in the first letter. If that first letter is not recorded as we expect, the surname will often prove difficult – if not impossible – to locate. There are many reasons why a British or Irish surname might suffer such distortions. These range from the obvious (e.g. Philips/Filips, Carney/Kearney) to the bizarre (e.g. Fonseca/Vauzaker). Yet most distortions are predictable if we know what to look for. And you will know what to look for after listening to this webinar.

About the speaker

About the speaker

Carol Baxter
Carol Baxter is an experienced and informed historian and genealogist, an internationally-acclaimed, award-winning author, and a dynamic, inspirational presenter. Carol has been a genealogist for four decades having first become interested
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  1. CM
    Chris Miller
    2 years ago

    Highly Recommend.
    Excellent Presentation and Visuals.
    10/10.

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