Livingstone vs. Livingston

Heather Livingston Willis1 · Mon Dec 19, 2005 9:55 pm

My family has made contact with my grandfather's cousin named Donald Livingstone.

Kyle2 MacLea · Post by **Kyle2 MacLea** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:38 pm

Congrats on finding such a knowledgeable relative, and one with information to share! As for spelling, I have discovered that though many people have attached a lot of importance to minor spelling differences, that they don't make a lot of difference in the end.

Heather Livingston Willis1 · Mon Dec 19, 2005 11:19 pm

Kyle, Thank you for your comments on name spellings.

Rob Livingston2 · Post by **Rob Livingston2** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:52 pm

Kyle is correct about not putting too much into the spelling of names.

Suzanne Livingstone1 · Wed Dec 28, 2005 3:13 am

Hi Heather, I've always spelled my last name as Livingstone and was told that here in America it is Livingstone and it's Livingston in Scotland where the name and family originate from. although I pronounce it Livingstone, it gets repeated back Livingston 9 out of 10 days, but my first name is almost as bad.

Andrew Lancaster4 · Post by **Andrew Lancaster4** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:53 pm

There are a lot of myths about the spelling, but basically it is not important once you get back 200 years. In the 19 and 18th century many families who are now Livingstone and/or Livingston were Liveston, apparently because that is how it was pronounced. The advent of education for everyone led families to standardise and I guess families tended to Livingston because that was the official spelling of the town in Scotland (and therefore also the official name of the Aristocratic family or families associated with that town including one which played a role in the declaration of Independence and other events in American history). The other spelling that people gravitated towards was Livingstone, seemingly mainly because that was the spelling used by Dr Livingstone. For this reason I believe this spelling is actually more common amongst British and Commonwealth families (in contrast to what you heard) where he was perhaps a bit better know than in America. But this is just the feeling I get. Best Regards Andrew

Kyle2 MacLea · Post by **Kyle2 MacLea** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:11 pm

Dear Suzanne, As for the 'very old' book your family owns, I think everyone here on the forum would be very glad for any extracts or information from that book that you could provide.