Surname analysis items
The next time I am stuck on how to think of another way to spell someone's name
I will be reaching for Help! Why Can't I Find My Ancestor's Surname?
Shauna Hicks History Enterprises
Help!
Why can't I find my
ancestor's surname?
Help!
Why can't I find my ancestor's surname?
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 27.50
Website discount:
$AUD 19.50
International purchases
How often have you sat looking at a historical register or in front of a computer screen expecting to see your ancestor’s surname only to discover that it’s not there? You check every spelling you can think of without success then give up the search unaware that the entry is there but that you lack enough knowledge about English letters and sounds to find it.
Help! Why can’t I find my ancestor’s surname? is the solution to your problem.
- It describes the distortions that can occur between the time your ancestor thinks about saying his or her surname to the time you search for the surname in an online index.
- It explains that these distortions are rarely random and it displays sound charts and surnames tables showing how and why they occur.
- It includes lists of spellings for every letter and sound—as many as two dozen for a single vowel sound in some instances.
- And it provides guidelines you can follow to help find those elusive surnames.
This book is a gateway to a new world. Once you have read it, you will think about surnames in a completely different way.
No longer will you be flailing in the dark, making stabs at spelling possibilities. When you follow its instructions, you will find that some of those previously abandoned surname searches are now successful.
Two item discount deal
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 35.00
Website discount:
$AUD 23.00
International purchases
Help!
Surnames
"cheat sheet"
Help!
Surnames
"cheat sheet"
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 7.50
Website discount:
$AUD 6.00
International purchases
The Madness of
"Mac" Surnames
If you have determined that ‘Mc’ and ‘Mac’ surnames are the most complicated surnames originating in the British Isles, you need to read this book. And if you haven’t already worked that, you desperately need to read this book.
For example, imagine if you were researching the surname McClarence and, to your surprise, you stumbled across a variant McLawrence. And you were researching McLachlan and saw it written as McGloughlan. And you were researching McGuigan and found McQuigan, and you saw McQuade written as McWade, and McWright written as McRight, and McReady as McCready. By this stage you have gone all the way from ‘McC’ to ‘McL’ to ‘McG’ to ‘McQ’ to McW’ to ‘McR’ and back to ‘McC’. You would have every reason for tearing your hair out in confusion and thinking ‘This Is All Too Hard!’
Well, don’t despair. There are logical reasons for all of these spelling exchanges. In fact, they are all predictable once you understand the sounds and letters of the English language and how they influence ‘Mac’ or ‘Mc’ surnames. The aim of this book is to communicate that information.
The Madness of ‘Mac’ Surnames is not a surname dictionary. It is a foundational guide to help you find other ways of spelling for your ‘Mac’ surnames of interest. Never again will you feel as if you are wandering around in an endless maze as you try to work out variant spellings for the ‘Mac’ surnames of your ancestors.
The Madness of
"Mac" Surnames
Australian purchases
RRP: $AUD 15.00
Website discount:
$AUD 13.50
International purchases