Most families never had one fixed spelling of their name. A clerk wrote down what he heard, in the spelling habits of his own language — and in the Częstochowa-Radomsko region, the language of the records changed again and again. The same family can appear in Polish civil records, in Russian (Cyrillic) registers from the decades when this part of Poland kept its civil records in Russian, in German wartime documents, and in Jewish community records kept in Yiddish or Hebrew letters.
Each of those languages spells the same sounds its own way. The "sh" sound is sz in Polish and sch in German, so one spoken name appears as Szwarc in a Polish register, Schwarz in a German one, and שווארץ in a Yiddish one. Cyrillic has no letter for "h", so in Russian-era registers Hofman becomes Gofman. Polish records add grammatical endings — Goldbergowa is Goldberg's wife, Goldbergówna his daughter. And when a family migrated, the name was written down yet again in the new country's spelling habits: Jakubowicz, after a generation in America, is Yakubovitch or Jacobowitz.
This is why searching by exact spelling misses records that really belong to your family. When you search by sound, each name is converted to a phonetic form and compared by how it is pronounced rather than how it is spelled. This lets one search find a surname across the Polish, German, English, Yiddish, and Hebrew spellings that appear in the records, while still keeping genuinely different names apart.
The examples below are computed live by the search itself. Each pair shows its phonetic reading and a distance score; names at or below 1.0 are treated as the same name, higher scores as different names.
Names are read by sound, not letters, so spellings from Polish, German, English, and Yiddish sources match each other. Polish diacritics and their stripped forms are the same name (ą = a, ś = s, ż = z), and stray accents from other languages are ignored (í = i, é = e).
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jakubowicz | Yakubovitch | /jakubɔvit͡s/ · /jakubɔvit͡ʃ/ | 0.08 | same name |
| Fiszman | Fischman | /fiʃman/ · /fiʃman/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Szwarc | Schwarz | /ʃvart͡s/ · /ʃvart͡s/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Kohn | Cohn | /kɔn/ · /kɔn/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Katz | Kac | /kat͡s/ · /kat͡s/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Altman | Ałtman | /altman/ · /altman/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Altman | Aldtman | /altman/ · /altman/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Dykerman | Dickerman | /dɨkɛrman/ · /dikɛrman/ | 0.1 | same name |
| Jarząbek | Jarzabek | /jaʒɔ̃bɛk/ · /jaʒabɛk/ | 0.25 | same name |
| Zając | Zajac | /zajɔ̃t͡s/ · /zajat͡s/ | 0.29 | same name |
| Lewin | Lewín | /lɛvin/ · /lɛvin/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Szwarcberg | Schwarzberg | /ʃvart͡sbɛrɡ/ · /ʃvart͡sbɛrɡ/ | 0.0 | same name |
Polish and Russian spellings insert an i or j after a consonant to mark a softened sound; it comes and goes across sources (Pacianowski = Pacanowski, Paljuch = Paluch, Dyjament = Dyament).
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacanowski | Pacianowski | /pat͡sanɔvski/ · /pat͡sanɔvski/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Paluch | Paljuch | /palux/ · /palux/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Klug | Kliug | /kluɡ/ · /kluɡ/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Landau | Ljandau | /landau/ · /landau/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Dymant | Diament | /dɨmant/ · /damɛnt/ | 0.38 | same name |
Slavic genitive and feminine endings (-ów, -owa, -owej, -owie, -ówna, -ova, -aja) mean "of" or "daughter of", so they are matched as the base surname; a fleeting "e" returns when the ending comes off (Galstrow = Galster).
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goldberg | Goldbergowa | /ɡɔldbɛrɡ/ · /ɡɔldbɛrɡ/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Goldberg | Goldbergówna | /ɡɔldbɛrɡ/ · /ɡɔldbɛrɡ/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Klug | Klugów | /kluɡ/ · /kluɡ/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Abramowicz | Abramowitz | /abramɔvit͡s/ · /abramɔvit͡s/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Moskowicz | Moskowiczowey | /mɔskɔvit͡s/ · /mɔskɔvit͡s/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Galster | Galstrow | /ɡalstɛr/ · /ɡalstr/ | 0.57 | same name |
The German -stein ending appears as -sztajn, -sztyn, -szten, -stien and more, with the vowel before it freely reduced.
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epsztajn | Epsztyn | /ɛpʃtajn/ · /ɛpʃtajn/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Epsztajn | Epszten | /ɛpʃtajn/ · /ɛpʃtajn/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Borensztajn | Bornsztyn | /bɔrnʃtajn/ · /bɔrnʃtajn/ | 0.0 | same name |
An unstressed middle "e" is silent (Tillemann = Tilman, Auerbach = Aurbach), "ae" is the vowel ä, and between vowels f = ff = pf.
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talman | Tillemann | /talman/ · /tilɛman/ | 0.88 | same name |
| Talman | Teleman | /talman/ · /tɛlɛman/ | 0.81 | same name |
| Telman | Taelman | /tɛlman/ · /tɛlman/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Orbach | Auerbach | /ɔrbax/ · /aurbax/ | 0.46 | same name |
| Fajerman | Faiermann | /fajrman/ · /fajrman/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Kifer | Kupfer | /kifɛr/ · /kufɛr/ | 0.3 | same name |
| Kifer | Kiffer | /kifɛr/ · /kifɛr/ | 0.0 | same name |
In Polish names "ie" is a glide (as in Sieradzki); in German and Yiddish names it is a long i, so Wielingier matches Willinger.
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willinger | Wielingier | /vilinɡɛr/ · /vilinɡir/ | 0.09 | same name |
| Englender | Engielender | /ɛnɡlɛndɛr/ · /ɛnɡilɛndɛr/ | 0.2 | same name |
In German and Ladino spellings an "h" after a vowel marks length and is silent, so Kohn is Kon and Cohen is Koen.
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kohn | Kon | /kɔn/ · /kɔn/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Cohen | Koen | /kɔɛn/ · /kɔɛn/ | 0.0 | same name |
Slavic languages have no "h" sound, so an H name surfaces with G or Ch in Polish and Russian records. The bridge is the H itself: native G and Ch names stay separate.
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horowicz | Górewicz | /hɔrɔvit͡s/ · /ɡurɔvit͡s/ | 0.75 | same name |
| Hofman | Gaufman | /hɔfman/ · /ɡaufman/ | 0.94 | same name |
| Hofman | Chaufman | /hɔfman/ · /xaufman/ | 0.94 | same name |
German and Yiddish "au" is spoken and spelled as plain o or u across sources; the -baum ending appears as -bom, -boim, -bojm, -bajm.
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krause | Kroze | /krausɛ/ · /krɔzɛ/ | 0.5 | same name |
| Landau | Lando | /landau/ · /landɔ/ | 0.46 | same name |
| Hofman | Haufman | /hɔfman/ · /haufman/ | 0.69 | same name |
| Birnbaum | Birenbom | /birnbaum/ · /birɛnbaum/ | 0.4 | same name |
| Birnbaum | Birenbojm | /birnbaum/ · /birɛnbaum/ | 0.4 | same name |
Names written in Hebrew letters are transliterated and matched against their Latin-letter spellings.
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willinger | ווילינגער | /vilinɡɛr/ · /vilinɡɛr/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Fiszman | פישמאן | /fiʃman/ · /fiʃman/ | 0.0 | same name |
A leading "Y" before a vowel is the same consonant as "J".
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankel | Jankel | /jankɛl/ · /jankɛl/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Yosef | Josef | /jɔsɛf/ · /jɔsɛf/ | 0.0 | same name |
| Yurkowicz | Jurkiewicz | /jurkɔvit͡s/ · /jurkɔvit͡s/ | 0.0 | same name |
Names that merely share a Soundex code but genuinely sound different are kept apart, so results stay precise. The first and last consonants carry a name's identity, and two independent sound changes stack into a different name even when each alone would be a plausible variant (Kupfer is Kifer, but Kuper — vowel shift AND p for f — is not).
| Spelling | Spelling | Phonetic reading | Distance | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zajdman | Zytman | /zajdman/ · /zɨtman/ | 2.13 | different |
| Kac | Koch | /kat͡s/ · /kɔx/ | 3.22 | different |
| Szwarc | Swierk | /ʃvart͡s/ · /svirk/ | 2.94 | different |
| Brat | Broda | /brat/ · /brɔda/ | 1.1 | different |
| Besser | Fiszer | /bɛsɛr/ · /fiʃɛr/ | 1.6 | different |
| Berkowicz | Perkowicz | /bɛrkɔvit͡s/ · /pɛrkɔvit͡s/ | 1.06 | different |
| Kon | Gan | /kɔn/ · /ɡan/ | 1.5 | different |
| Borensztajn | Bronsztajn | /bɔrnʃtajn/ · /brɔnʃtajn/ | 3.38 | different |
| Gitler | Chitler | /ɡitlɛr/ · /xitlɛr/ | 1.21 | different |
| Gutman | Chutman | /ɡutman/ · /xutman/ | 1.42 | different |
| Kifer | Kuper | /kifɛr/ · /kupɛr/ | 1.05 | different |
| Strauss | Sztrauch | /straus/ · /ʃtraux/ | 1.02 | different |
A few kinds of spellings are judged by more than their sound score. A spelling that just misses the cutoff is still included when it accounts for only a tiny share of the results — a near-miss that adds one record costs nothing to show, while the same score carrying hundreds of records would swamp the results and stays out. Obvious scribal slips — two letters swapped (Szymkoiwcz), or a dropped vowel that leaves an unpronounceable letter pile (Ickwicz) — are included when the spelling is rare, since a handful of records with an impossible spelling can only be a copying error, whereas a frequent spelling is a real name in its own right. And some differences are never bridged by rarity: a name's first and last consonants carry its identity, and an H- name may surface as G- or Ch- in Russian-era records but never the reverse.
Matching runs on top of a Daitch-Mokotoff Soundex refined over two decades of use; the phonetic reading shown here is what further separates real spelling variants from names that only happen to share a Soundex code.