Ancestry/Genealogy

it could be that when the census taker came around, no one was home. In those cases, the census taker was required to ask neighbors for information. Neighbors, perhaps not knowing your ancestors very well, gave what was erroneous information.

I recall the 1970 census. I didn't turn in the form on time and a census taker came to the door. I asked what if I wasn't home or refused to answer? The census taker said he would just ask the neighbors.

In a similar way with the spelling of names -- the spelling depended on the cultural/ethnic background or education level of the person WRITING the name down, not the person answering the question about his/her name. So where it may seem that on one census a family name is spelled one way and on another it's spelled another way, it may be due to the census taker who wrote it down.