How a surname is spelled when doing genealogical research can make or break your success.

I have still been told by a handful of people who I’ve tried to help that “our last name has ONLY ever been spelled as . . . . . . . .”

That “belief” might cause the researcher to miss out on myriads of records pertaining to their family.

Why?

1. The person who created the original record might have been unsure how to spell a surname in a handwritten document or might have made a typing error that went uncorrected in a more modern document.
2. A family member might have chosen to change the spelling of the family name for whatever reason. My 2X great grandparents, Charles and Elida Stewart, appear consistently in records as STEWART until Charles died in 1894. From that time on, Elida is always shown as STUART. I asked her granddaughter why that happened. Her reply, “Grannie thought STUART was more French so after Grampa died, she changed the spelling.”
3. Human indexers make errors when transcribing errors, depending on their English comprehension level and the quality of handwriting in the document.
4. Artificial Intelligence bots make the same transcription errors, again due to handwriting quality or the image clarity of the record being indexed or transcribed.
5. Before spelling was more standardized in the 20th century and many people didn’t have the chance for any education, surnames were often spelled the way they sounded and the same person might spell his/her own name differently at different times.

To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

How do I spell thee? Let me count the ways.

Well, for Stufflebean, there are a ton of possibilities, as the original form of the name was STOPPELBEIN, the spelling used in the earliest German records in the 1600s into the 1700s when the Palatine family emigrated to the colonies.

From that time on, the spelling has varied wildly due to any of the five reasons listed above. These are just a few of the variations of which I’ve come across.

Stufflebean
Stufflebeam
Stopplebean
Stupplebeam
Stifulbean
Stufflebam
Stoffelbean
Stoppelbeen
Stuppelbeen
Stophilbeen
Stafelbeam

I’ve even, once or twice, come across indexed records that begin with “SL” because the indexer misread the T.

There is a pretty simple way to avoid missing records because of spelling variations. USE WILDCARDS.

I’m amazed at all the genea-buddies I meet in person or online who don’t make regular use of wild card searches, which most websites can now handle.

For Stufflebean and all its variations, I enter “st*l*b*n.” Even with the N on the end, the surname is unique enough that all the variations with M at the end also appear in the hits list.

Be an efficient researcher – Use W*ldc*rds when you search databases!

Just a quick note about this month’s 12 for ’26.

I had planned to focus on a single family. However, (1) I had way too much fun last month using FamilySearch full-text search AND (2) way too many odds and ends popped up via queries from readers and distant cousins and somehow the entire month of March was suddenly filled with posts.

So, consider March’s 12 for ’26 a mixed bag the mainly focuses on the Griggs and Gover families even though I didn’t label them as such.

I hope you enjoy all the discoveries I’ve made!

What do you do when you run out of clues when you’re researching an ancestor? Through my years of experience, I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade to share with you.

1. Use wildcards (e.g. St*ffleb*n for Stufflebean) when searching databases. They won’t work for the first letter in a name, but most websites can handle multiple wildcards, indicated by the use of an asterisk* taking the place of one or more letters. Some first and last names, especially if less common, can really be mangled by indexers.
2. When you find an image, be sure to check one image before and one image after it. It’s not always obvious when you find a record that there’s a reverse side with more details. It’s rare, but I have found the back side of a document appearing before the front side of the same record. When searching through land deeds, be sure to look at several deeds before and after the one you want. I’ve had two or three situations where a family group is moving en masse, they sell their land and then all go to the courthouse on the same day, just before the physical move, to record the sales.
3. Check multiple websites for the same records. Not all databases are created equal! For example, in my experience, MyHeritage has a collection of Ellis Island records that is better indexed and easier to navigate the actual Ellis Island website. Cast a wide net, particularly when seeking out international records. Instead of paying for an expensive subscription, look at what is offered through the national library or archives of your country of interest. Library and Archives Canada offers free access to its census records, as does the Danish National Archives. FamilySearch has free access to many international church records. What you can’t find on one website might be readily available on another.
4. Check online family trees. Yes, be careful and use your findings as potential clues to verify yourself. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve found a person or document or photo in the universal FamilySearch family tree, or WikiTree or in someone’s individual online tree, including images of wills not freely accessible online. Just consider ALL online trees as full of possible new clues!
5. Seek out digital online books through FamilySearch, Internet Archive, HathiTrust, Google Books and other sites. Not only are there family histories, but most U.S. counties and many towns have published histories. Military histories are excellent resources if you know your ancestor’s service, but want to learn more about what battles and locations where he/she served.

Here’s one more bonus tip – PERSI is (Periodical Source Index) a terrific resource that is underused. The Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center hosts PERSI, which is free to use. The database of articles can be searched by surname, location (U.S., Canada, British Isles, Other Countries), Research Techniques and by Article Title Keyword. NOTE that this is an index to magazine, newsletter and journal articles, not to the articles themselves. However, when you find an article of interest, there is an option to order a copy of the article.

I entered “Stufflebean” in the surname search and seven hits appeared:

At the bottom left, there is a Click here option to order the articles.

PERSI is more useful when locations are searched, rather than surnames, but I’d love to read the first three Stufflebean articles!

What’s your favorite strategy for finding new clues? Please leave a comment and share.