Census Information - Handwriting and Phonetic Substitutes
Unlike today's census records that are processed by a computer, older records were tallied by hand. This makes interpreting these records highly dependent upon the census taker's script and ability to spell.
| Letter | Possibly Misread | Letter | Possibly Misread |
| A | H,C,O | N | W,W,V,st,Ne |
| a | o,u,ei,ie,n,w | n | u,a,o,ee,ie,ei,w,m |
| B | R,P,S | O | C,U,V,D |
| b | li,le,t,h,l | o | a,u,n,ee,ll,ie,ei,tt |
| C | G,E,O,Ce | P | R,B,I,J,S,L |
| c | e,i,o,u | p | ss,g,js,k,f,fs,fa,fi,fr |
| D | G,S,I,J,T,Ir | Q | Z,D,I,J,G,C |
| d | u,a,n,ie,ei,ee,ct,o | q | g,y,z,f,ej,if,j |
| E | C,G,Ee | R | Pi,B,S,Pe,Pr,Re |
| e | i,c | r | e,s,i,ei,a |
| ee | u,n,ll,a,o,ie,ei,w | S | L,I,J,St,Se,F,G,R,T |
| F | T,S,G,Ti,L | s | r,i,e,c |
| f | s,j,g,q,t | sc | x |
| G | S,Q,Z,Ci,L,Se,Is | ss | fs,p,rr,w,m,n |
| g | y,z,q,f | T | F,S,L,D,Q |
| H | N,W,He,Sl,St,A,F | t | l,f,lr,i |
| h | K,li,lc,le | te | k |
| I | J,L,S,Q,F,T | tt | ll |
| i | e,c,l | U | V,A,O,N,H |
| ie | ei,u,ee,n,a,o,w,il | u | ee,a,o,n,ie,ei,ll,w |
| J | I,L,S,Q,F,T,P | V | N,W,lr,Jr,B |
| j | y,g,f,q,z | v | u,n,b,rr,s,r,o,ee,ei |
| Jno | Mr,Mo | w | m,rr,ur,nr,ui,ni,eu,en |
| K | H,R,B,tr,te | X | H,Z,N,J |
| k | h.le.lr.te,R,B,H | x | sc,c,r |
| L | S,T,F | Y | T,F,Z,Q |
| l | e,i,t | y | g,q,j,z,p,ej,ij,if |
| ll | tt,ee,u,a,o,ie,ei | Z | G,Q,Y |
| M | W,H,N,A,Al,Me | z | g,q,y,j,p |
| m | w,rr,ni,in,iv,ev,ai,ui,iu | ||
| Sound | Substitute | Sound | Substitute |
| a, as in Davis | e,i,o,u,y,ey,eh | m, as in Adams | mm,lm,mb,mn,n |
| au, as in Braun | ow,ou | mb, as in Combs | mm,lm,mn |
| b, as in Robinson | p,v,bb,pp | n, as in Lane | nn,ng,gn,kn,m |
| bb, as in Webber | b,p,pp | ng, as in Young | n,nk,ch,k,q |
| c, as in Bascomb | k,g,gh,q,cc,ck | nk, as in Winkler | nh,ch,k,q |
| c, as in Pence | ch,cz,s,sh,tch,tsh,z,dg | nn, as in Brenner | n |
| ch, as in Richards | ck,kg,gh,sh,h, ju | oey, as in Joey | oy,oe,oi |
| chr, as in Cochran | kr,gr,cr | oe, as in Vittitoe | oy,oe,oey |
| ck, as in Black | k,c,g,q | ou, as in Courtney | u,au,ow,ew,oo |
| cz, as in Berkowicz | c,ch,ts,tz,s,sh,tcr,tsh | ow, as in Brown | au,ou,eau |
| d, as in Adams | dd,t,dt | oy, as in Boyd | oi,oe,oey |
| dd, as in Stoddard | d,t,tt | p, as in Draper | b,pp,ph,bb |
| dg, as in Hedges | g,j,ch,gg,tj | pf, as in Pfeiffer | f,pfgh,gh,v,lf |
| ds, Reynolds | z,ts | ph, as in Adolph | f,gh,pf,lf,p |
| dt, as in Schmidt | d,t,tt | ps, as in Thompson | s |
| e, as in Blevins | a,ee,i,o,u,y,ie,ea | q, as in Quire | c,ch,g,k,gh,cc,ck,ng,nk |
| ea, as in Peavler | e,i,y,ie,ei | r, as in Moore | rr,wr,rh |
| eau, as in Beauregard | o,aw,ow,au,ou | rh, as in Rhodes | r,rr,wr |
| ee, as in Lee | ie,e,i,y,ea,ei | rr, as in Harrison | r,rh,wr |
| ew, as in Lewis | u,oo,ou | s, as in Wilson | c,sh,tch,z,cz,ss,x |
| f, as in Hefner | v,ph,pf,gh,il,ff | sch, as in Schofield | sh,s,sc,sk,sq |
| ff, as in Jefferson | f,ph,gh,v,lf | sch, as in Schwartz | sh,s,sc,sk,sq |
| g, as in League | c,ch,gg,gh,j,k,q,dg,h | sch, as in Herschel | s,sh |
| gg, as in Bagget | g,ch,k,q,j | sh, as in Bishop | s,c,ch,cz,sch,ti,ss |
| gh, as in Ghostley | c,ch,g,gg,ch,k,q | sk, as in Fisk | sch,sh,s,sc,sq |
| gh, as in Baughman | f,ph,pf,v,lf | sq, as in Squire | sc,sk,sch,sh |
| gn, as in Ignatius | n,kn | ss, as in Bass | s,c,ch,ci,sh,sc,z |
| gr, as in Ingram | chr,ke | t, as in Seton | d,dd,tt,th |
| h, as in Mahr | ch,wh,w,g,ju | tch, as in Watch | s,sh,c,ch,cz,s,tsh |
| i, as in Williams | a,e,o,u,y,ei,uy,aye | th, as in Smith | t,tt,d |
| ie, as in Pier | e,i,y,ee,ea,ei | ti, as in Christian | sh,si,tsh,tch,ch |
| ih, as in Sihau | y,i,ei,ii | tj, as in Petitjean | j,g,ch,dh,dg,tch,tsch,s |
| j, as in Major | ch,g,dg,gg | tt, as in Scott | d,dd,t,th,dt |
| ju, as in Jung | h,wh,ch | ts, as in Watson | tz,cz,z,tzts,cz,z |
| k, as in Watkins | c,ch,g,gh,q,nnk,cc,ck | u, as in Murphy | a,e,i,omou,ew,oo |
| kn, as in Knott | n,gn | v, as in Stevens | b,f,lf,w |
| kr, as in Krueger | chr,cr,gr | w, as in Lawson | wh,v,au,ow,h,ju |
| ks, as in Marks | x | wh, as in Wheeler | w,h,ju,oa |
| l, as in Dylan | ll | wr, as in Lawrence | r,rh,rr |
| lf, as in Halfhill | f,v,ph,pf,gh | x, as in Wilcox | s,z,ks,chs |
| Ll, as in Villa | l,th | y, as in Taylor | i,e,ij |
| lm, as in Palmer | m,mm,mb,mn | z, as in Frazier | s,c,sh,sch,x,ds |
Information Updated:04/21/2005