Hi Folks,
I have used the Alternative Names record to record what I suspect is a phonetic spelling of a person’s surname from source documents (e.g. a census) when it appears they are part of a more common family surname. I enter them in my database under what I believe is the more common spelling of the surname.
First, is this a recommended practice, or should I have entered the person under the name as presented in the source document, with the more common spelling entered as an Alternate Name (just in case I’m mistaken in the family relationship?)
This brings up another observation that I made while using yEd to create a family tree graph.
When Gramps exports as a GEDCOM file, both the Preferred Name and the Alternate Name are given the label (tag?) “NAME”, if there is an Alternate Name.
When yEd imports the GEDCOM file and if there is an Alternate Name, the Alternate “NAME” data overwrites the preferred “NAME” data, presumably because the Alternate name is read after the Preferred name.
I created a script file that I think filters-out the Alternative Name from the GEDCOM file that is intended for import to yEd. If there is someone interested in the script’s functionality, particularly someone who is proficient in bash, I’m happy to share (I am not a programmer, so user beware!)
Cheers,
Brad