Different spellings of the name

One of the most difficult things in genealogy is getting to understand the context of our ancestors' lives. It is all too easy to make false assumptions by applying modern ways of thinking to problems in the past. One example of this is the spelling of surnames. Our surname has been spelled in a bewildering variety of forms over the last few centuries. If we take the broader Doris family from all over the north of Ireland, we find Doris, Dooris, Douris, Dourish, Doorish, Dooriess, Doriss, Duris, Durish, Douross, Duross, O'Daris, O'Dowrish, O'Dorris. Within the Donegal family alone, we find Doris, Dorris, Doran, Dorrans, Dorans, Dorrens, McEldore, McIldore, in 19th. and 20th. century records. Why is there such a variety?

We are used to living in a literate, English-speaking society. We can read official communications and when we go to the registrar's office, the registrar speaks the same language as we do. It was not like that for our ancestors. Remember that most of our ancestors were illiterate, though many of them were highly educated - they knew hundreds of songs, stories and poems off by heart and were steeped in ancient traditions, even though they couldn't read or write. They were also primarily Irish speaking and the officials they dealt with were English speaking. They were not in a position (in the 19th. century, anyway) to correct the clerks when they wrote what they thought they heard rather than what the person really said.

In many cases, the name was confused with other names which were common or familiar in the area. Thus Doris became Doran in Ireland. In Scotland, where the name Dorrans is found among native Scots of Protestant background, Doris individuals often became Dorrans or Dorans in records. In land records, the names McEldore or McIldore were sometimes used, which seems to be a mistake for a Gaelic form of Dyer.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Doris name is the extent to which widely dispersed families ended up settling for the version Doris or Dorris, abandoning versions like Doorish and Douris, which are far less common. Why did this happen? Was it because it had a Classical, "educated" feel to it? Was it because it was easy to spell? Were these families sporadically in contact with each other? It is an interesting question.

Getting ready for publication.

Hello again! I haven't added to this blog for a long time, as I have been busy getting the document on the history of the Doris family in Lettermacaward ready for publication, scanning in pictures and experimenting with fonts and layouts. I have decided to use Lulu to publish it. This is an online self-publishing company - you upload the text and cover specifications to them electronically and then they print and bind a copy whenever anyone orders one, through Amazon or Lulu itself. Some people criticise Lulu and say that it is just a vanity publisher but it seems to be an ideal setup for people like me. There are no problems with distribution and no danger of producing too many copies. A book like this might conceivably sell five hundred copies worldwide if there are enough members of the family who are interested but the chances are that it will only be bought by a few dozen people. There is no way of knowing until it's published. So far, I am finding the Lulu process simple enough to understand but I am a bit confused by the cover instructions! Fortunately, I have a friend who is very good with computers and he has agreed to help me. Once the document has been uploaded, I will order a copy myself to see whether everything is OK and then it will be available for sale to the public. That's when the next phase begins. I doubt very much whether anyone has read this blog yet but as soon as the book is available, I will have to contact people with the names Doris, Doorish and Dorans to inform them about the blog and the book. I will do this through genealogy noticeboards, telephone directories and hopefully eventually through word of mouth among scattered members of the family. If there is anyone reading this, I will keep you posted on how things go and on the estimated timescale. Watch this space!