Re: O'Neall-Neale: Is There a Connection?
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In reply to:
Re: O'Neall-Neale: Is There a Connection?
Howard Kneale 7/25/04
O'Neill is one of the oldest Irish names in Ireland.
But when it comes to the US, one needs to remember how names did/could change. One of the foremost reasons was the educational level of the time, especially in the 1600-1800's.
People wrote what they heard and how they thought it was spelled. Thereby we can have ONeal, ONeill, etc.
Often times enumerators or clerks would drop the "O" from the name, thereby creating Neal, Neill, etc.
The surname is the same, it was just the spelling/writing down by the clerks, enumerators, etc.
Do not forget to check for all spellings of ONeal etc PLUS Neals, etc.