Research Tip O’ the Day

We’re still finding spelling variants for our surname!

A fellow researcher recently referenced a 1790 census listing for James Parx in New Jersey, which was clearly a phonetic spelling by the enumerator of the Parks surname. This led me to wonder how often this spelling might have been used in other censuses and documents used for genealogical research purposes.

A search for the exact spelling “Parx” in Ancestry.com results in about 140 hits. I’ve yet to explore them, but a broader Google search may turn up even more. Next time you’re doing a surname search for a Park/e/s ancestor, try plugging in this variant spelling. Though the Soundex search will look for this spelling, other types of searches might miss it.