The Name Game

All genealogists play the name game.  Multiple spellings of our surnames is fairly common.  My great grandfather came from Lithuania with a relatively easy last name. Dausin.  Well, perhaps not that easy.

I have seen so many spellings that I started a spreadsheet to keep track of the various spellings.  Lithuanians add a suffix to the root of their last name which identifies whether the individual is a man,  a married woman, or an unmarried daughter. (See a great explanation here by John Peters, a genealogist who helped many Lithuanian Americans over their brick walls.)

I added the date and source to my spreadsheet; when looking for a new record I usually start my search with the spellings closest to the date of the new source.

	First	Last	Date	Source
1	Joel	Dauzin	1897	Naturalization paper
2	Julias	Dausaunas	1890	Sister Beth's papers
3	Julijonas	Dausinas	1902	Marriage register (Church)
	Julionas	Daunsinos	1902	Marriage license & certificate
4	Julijani	Dausinas	1903	Daughter Bronislava Haimi (?) baptism record
5	Juligan	Dauzen	1904	Son Boleslav's birth certificate
6	Julijano	Dausinas	1904	Son Bolieslaum's baptism record
7	Julius	Dausen	1907	Joseph's birth certificate
8		Dausinas	1904	Boleslav baptism record
9	Julius	Doosen	1910	Census
10	Julius	Dowsen	1918	WWI Draft Registration
11	Julius	Dausen	1941	Anthony's birth certificate
12	Julius	Dausinis	1943	Edward's birth certificate
13	Julius	Dausenas	1952	Death certificate
14		Dausinas	1967	Paulina's death certificate

Turns out, that wasn't enough. Several databases, like Cook County's genealogy site,  let you put in the soundex code. Since most of the spellings had the same sound, I felt they would all have the same soundex code.  Generally speaking, the table below bears that out.  250 without the suffix and 252 with it.  Again, I used a spreadsheet but there are several good soundex converters that will do the work for you.

D	A	U	S	I	N	AS
	O	U	Z	E		IS
		W		AU
		O
D			2		5	2	0	Soundex

That just one of the many name games I've played to find information about my great grandfather.  He didn't leave a lot of information behind.  I'm still searching to find his entry to the US (around 1892) and any information regarding his origins in Lithuania. 

Till next time, keep the blue side up ... Lynn