One Person,So Many Names

One of the most frustrating things about doing family tree research is the variety of names that one person can have,and it seems that those who come from other countries are usually the ones who have the most.

A couple of examples....my great grandfather's name was Hilaire Lessor. He was born in Broughton,Quebec,Canada. For years, I could not find him anywhere. No census,nothing,so I also couldn't find out what his parents names were. It was very frustrating. Here are the names that I eventually found him under:
-Elaire
-Milaire
-this one is my favorite-Frank
Lessor became Lessard in America. I have also seen it spelled Sessard in the 1910 census.

My great grandmother,his wife,is even better. Her name was Delima Bonsaint. She was also called:
-Delia
-Delina
-Demelle
-and her last name was also listed as Bonsang and Goodblood.

What was helpful in putting two and two together was that I knew birth and death dates,as well as the name of siblings.

Delima's father's name was Amable Bonsaint. In the 1880 census in Bartlett,NH,he is listed as Alic Goodblood (Bonsang is Goodblood in French,though it was also spelled Bonsaint).

My great uncle's name was Urbain,but he was listed under birth records as David,and in the 1880 Bartlett census,he was listed as Dane. I suppose that Dave and Dane sound alike if one has a heavy accent.

You can see how confusing it gets.

Why so many names?

The best theory is that the record takers 1) didn't know how to spell the names properly 2)couldn't understand what someone with a heavy Canadian accent was saying 3)they just changed the names to make them more Americanzied.

My suggestion is to bear in mind that the names could be wrong. Try various spellings. It just might get you there!