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Why there are different spellings of similar last names.

Names change over time. Ask your parents or grandparents if your name has changed over time in the way it has been spelled. Often names do, for many reasons:

• Names were changed to simpler spellings once people came to America, so it was easier to spell and say by others. One man's name was Salaman when his ancestor emigrated to America in the late 1800s, but his ancestor decided to change it to Sullivan.
• Sometimes spelling was changed to suit the English alphabet and its language of spelling and pronunciation.
• Spelling wasn't standardized until the mid 1800s, and so people often spelled words (and names) by sounding them out. If your name was How, you might spell it How on one document, and Howe on another, and you would still be referring to yourself!
• Sometimes other people didn't like someone's name. During times of increased prejudice, as in World War I and II, for example, many German Americans "Americanized" their names so they would not be identified by others as "German" or with the enemy. Many Schmidts became Smiths.