Does anyone know why between the years 1840-1850 the last name sweeden to sweeten?

Question

This is my wife's family name,she was wondering if anyone knew the answer just for her curiosity

Answer 1

changing of spelling and names are very common, a lot of the time it is because that's the way the recorder wrote it . or maybe when they relocated they wanted to go with a more "American" name easier to pronounce. in my family two brothers had an argument and one side spells the last name with a S and the other with a Z.

some times it just happens- No particular reason only a misspelling

Answer 2

That's very common.  The usual reason is that somewhere along the line, someone just couldn't spell very well; he misspelled his name on an official document, and it stuck.

Answer 3

In the 1800s, persons were often illiterate. If a family commonly used one spelling, and somehow, a record showed an alternate spelling.. family would sometimes adopt the variation.

That is one way. Another possibility is that someone may be looking at a record of the family (such as a census record), and seeing a different spelling from what they expect. That is not always a "change".. it is simply HOW THE NAME was entered by the census taker, and how he assumed it should be spelled. You would need to find and evaluate other records, ie court documents.

Overall.. if you are looking for genealogy/ relationships, spelling is something that you quickly learn to set aside. In searching for any record, you simply keep your mind open to either spelling, then evaluate if the record actually refers to the right persons.

Answer 4

When my Gt. grandparents married at around that time, neither of them could sign the Register but put a X.  They would have told the Vicar their names and relied on his spelling.

You would have the scenario "What is your surname?" "It be Colley, zur"  This could have been interpreted by the Vicar,  maybe as Colley, Collie, or Collis and Gt. gramps would have been none the wiser.

In my husband's family, the surname is spelt in 4 different ways on different branches of the Trees.

Another of my Devonian ancestors was baptised Francis Pigim and buried as Francis Peagam 90 years later.