Hi,
I had the same problem with my grandfathers last name.
He came here under his original name, however, when settled in states, the children were born, baptized under real name, however communion, confirmation etc were under different spellings. Even when they went to school they cut in down, they could not pronounce it so the teachers listed as they saw fit.
Census reports cut our name in half and dropped the last vowel of a and made it an o. On all years this happened. Also Caterino, Caterina
and lastly Casterino. Go figure!! (Surname is Santacaterina)
I worked along the children of my grandfather, obtaining birth, baptism records as well as marriages. . I knew where they lived in Jersey so I went thru all the different spellings, came across him in the census after awhile.
Need to see what other papers have the spelling on them.
Also if you know where any family members are buried, try the cemetery.
They have the original deed of the purchaser of the plot, thus will give you another spelling of the name. And who is buried in each plot/location etc.
I agree with Marissa. When our forefathers came to America they didn't know how to speak english/let alone spell their name. They trusted in America to do the right thing. When they settled in, they just kept the record of the new spelling because it was much easier. My gram for instance you to tell everyone her last name was Vanelli, however her name is Vernaglia!
My family tree has at least 5 variations of all our Italian surnames.
Even when buried their names are mispelled too! It took me 7 mos to find my g-grandfather's burial! His last name was not even close, Vernatzia!
Try other papers if you know your aunts/uncles- churches they attended.
I find the parish priests here in Jersey to most helpful in tracking down information of this stuff. Also can give you god parents names too.
Which in most cases leads you to antoher family member.
And some, not all list an address on their records. And usually they can track down from a baptism if they married there also. Great abundance of info at the church!
Lastly, try obits, they listed family members and locations sometimes.
It would list other variations or the correct one at that.
Hope this gave you some other ideas to try, it worked for me!
Good luck!
Alice