What’s in a Name? How Do you Spell Yours?
From Dierdorf to Deardurff: 16 spelling variations, centuries of family history, and a few mysteries still waiting to be solved.
When your last name is Deardurff, you get used to spelling it for people. I’ve been doing it my entire life. It’s not exactly a name people hear every day, and I can understand why someone might have trouble getting it right the first time.
But here’s something interesting. After decades of researching my family history, I’ve discovered that apparently even some of my ancestors couldn’t agree on how to spell it.
Okay, maybe that’s not entirely fair. I don’t know that they were the ones changing the spelling. It could have been a clerk, a census taker, someone recording a marriage, or even someone trying to write down a name they had only heard spoken.
Whatever the reason, our family name has certainly gone through some changes over the centuries.
In fact, so far I’ve come across 16 different variations of what appears to be the same basic name. Some of them are quite similar, while others might make you scratch your head a little.
And that got me wondering. How many people carrying these different spellings are actually connected? How many have family histories that might help fill in some of the missing pieces?
No, I Didn’t Mean Dandruff!
Every once in a while, I’ll Google our last name just to see what turns up. Sometimes I’m looking for family history, and other times I’m curious to see which of my books show up when I search Amazon.
But apparently, Google and Amazon have decided they know how to spell my last name better than I do.
More times than I can count, I’ve searched for “Deardurff” only to have the search engine suggest “dandruff” instead. Suddenly, rather than finding family records or one of my books, I’m looking at shampoos, scalp treatments, and all kinds of hair care products.
At first, it was a little frustrating. After all, I’ve spent my entire life spelling my last name for people, and now I have to spell it for computers, too?
Eventually, I just had to laugh. I suppose when your last name is only a few letters away from a common scalp condition, these things are bound to happen.
I’m curious whether any of my Deardorff, Dierdorff, or Dearduff relatives have experienced the same thing. Or maybe the search engines have come up with something even more interesting for your spelling!
It All Goes Back to Germany. Or Does It?
My research has taken me back to a small town in Germany called Dierdorf, located northeast of Koblenz in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate.
As I shared in my earlier article, Before We Were Deardurffs: The History of Dierdorf, Germany, the town has a remarkable history.
According to the town’s official historical records, Dierdorf was first mentioned in writing in 1204, when it appeared as Pfarrei Dyrdorph, meaning the parish of Dyrdorph.
Historians believe the settlement itself may date back to around 1100.
Now, that doesn’t mean my family tree goes back to 1100. I wish it were that easy! It simply means the place associated with our surname has a documented history stretching back more than 900 years.
The name of the town changed in spelling over time, just as the surnames associated with it eventually did.
The Dictionary of American Family Names, published by Oxford University Press, identifies Deardurff as an Americanized form of the German surname Dierdorf.
That’s a pretty good starting point, but it certainly doesn’t answer every question about our family.
So, How Many Ways Can You Spell Deardurff?
Here’s where things get interesting.
Through my own family research, historical documents, census indexes, and genealogical references, I’ve encountered the following spellings:
The 16 variations discovered so far:
- Dyrdorph
- Dyrdorp
- Dyrdorf
- Dierdorf
- Dierdorff
- Dierdoff
- Dirdorff
- Didorff
- Deerdorf
- Deerdoff
- Deardorff
- Deardorf
- Deardurff
- Dearduff
- Deardurf
- Durdoff
That’s quite a collection, isn’t it?
To be clear, some of these spellings come from early references to the German town, while others appear in American family records and historical indexes. I’m not suggesting that every spelling represents a proven branch of the same family.
But the similarities are certainly worth exploring.
When I look at the list, I can see how some of the changes might have happened. Dierdorf becoming Deardorf doesn’t seem like much of a stretch. Adding another f to the end is easy enough to imagine.
But somewhere along the way, the spelling became Deardurff, which is the version my family uses today.
Was that a deliberate change? Was it a misunderstanding? Or did different family branches simply begin spelling their names differently over time?
Those are questions I’m still trying to answer.
Somewhere Along the Way, the Name Changed
One family story I’ve been trying to track down involves the spelling of our surname changing because of a military registration.
For years, I thought the story involved the Civil War. But the more historical records I examine, the less certain I am about that explanation.
For example, an index of the 1790 United States Census for Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, lists a man named Abraham Deardurff.
That’s 71 years before the Civil War began.
What’s particularly interesting to me is that my own Ancestry research includes an Abraham Deardurff who lived from 1758 to 1816. His father appears in my family records as Abraham Dierdorff, who lived from approximately 1730 to 1801.
Could the man in the census be my ancestor? Possibly. I still need to compare the original records to establish that connection.
But consider the spelling differences between those two generations.
We have a father listed as Dierdorff and a son listed as Deardurff. Whether those were their preferred spellings or simply how the names were recorded is another question.
Perhaps the military story actually dates back to the Revolutionary War. Or maybe it was something that happened to a different branch of the family.
I don’t know yet, and I’d rather keep researching than turn a family story into a historical fact without evidence.
Still, it’s fascinating to think about how something as simple as a name could change over just a generation or two.
Following the Family Across America
My family research has taken me through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and back across the Atlantic to Germany.
One of the earliest American connections I’ve investigated involves the Amwell Church of the Brethren in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
According to the church’s historical account, a man named Antony Dierdorff was among the early German settlers involved in organizing the congregation in 1733.
My family tree includes several generations using the Dierdorff spelling during this same general period.
Later generations moved west.
In 1798, an Abraham Deardurff and his family arrived in Franklinton, Ohio, a settlement that eventually became part of Columbus.
I’ve written about that history elsewhere on this website, including the historic Deardurff House, built in 1807 by David Deardurff.
That house is still standing today.
What interests me is how the family name appears in different forms as the generations moved from one place to another.
And I have to wonder how many other branches followed similar paths.
Did some stay in Pennsylvania? Did others move south instead of west? Were there families who kept the original German spelling while others adopted something more American?
And how many of those families still have old letters, family Bibles, photographs, or stories that might help explain what happened?
Sometimes the Best Information Comes From Family
I’ve been researching my family history for decades. Some of that research has come from Ancestry.com and historical records, but some of it came from family members who were doing genealogy long before we could sit at a computer and search through thousands of documents.
I have paper records passed down to me from Gladys Deardurff, the wife of my Great Uncle Joe.
Those records are especially meaningful because someone took the time to preserve that information and pass it along. I’m still going through some of it, and there may be details hidden in those pages that help answer questions I’ve been asking for years.
It makes me wonder how many other families have similar collections tucked away in boxes, file cabinets, or old photo albums.
Maybe a grandfather wrote down the family history years ago. Maybe someone kept an old family Bible with births, marriages, and deaths recorded inside. Or perhaps there’s a letter from a relative explaining where the family came from and why the name was spelled differently.
Sometimes those little pieces of information can turn out to be more valuable than we realize.
And sometimes they raise even more questions. That’s genealogy for you.
Maybe We’re Related. Maybe You Have a Piece of the Puzzle.
One of the reasons I started Deardurff.com was to preserve what I’ve learned about our family and make it available to others.
But I’d also like it to become a place where different branches of the family can connect and share what they know.
That’s really why I’m writing this article.
If your family name is Deardorff, Deardorf, Dearduff, Dierdorff, Dierdorf, Dirdorff, Deardurff, or another similar spelling, I’d love to hear from you.
Maybe your family has always used the same spelling. Maybe you know when it changed. Or maybe, like me, you’ve come across several versions while digging through old records.
I’m interested in hearing those stories.
Where did your family settle when they came to America? Do you know where they lived before that? Do you have an old family story about how the surname changed?
You don’t need to have everything documented or a complete family tree to reach out. Even a small detail could lead to something interesting.
Of course, I’d especially appreciate copies of historical documents, photographs, letters, church records, immigration records, or anything that might help connect the various branches. Knowing where a document came from is helpful, too.
I’m not assuming everyone with a similar name is related. That’s part of what makes the research interesting. Sometimes we’ll find a connection, and sometimes we’ll discover two entirely different family stories.
Either way, there’s something worth learning.
So, What’s in a Name?
Quite a bit, apparently.
A name can tell us something about where our ancestors lived, the languages they spoke, and the journeys they made. It can also remind us how easily little details can change as information is passed from one generation to the next.
After decades of research, I still have more questions than answers. But I’ve also discovered that every new document, photograph, or conversation has the potential to uncover another piece of our family history.
And maybe someone reading this article has a piece I’ve been missing.
If you carry one of these names, or know someone who does, please share this article with them. I’d love to learn more about your family’s history and see whether we can make some new connections.
Share Your Family Story or Contact Me
And now I’m curious…
What’s in your name, and how do YOU spell yours?
Historical References
1. Official History of Dierdorf, Germany
Verbandsgemeinde Dierdorf. Historical information about the town’s founding, early records, and medieval development.
Read the official history
2. Dictionary of American Family Names
Patrick Hanks, editor. Oxford University Press, Second Edition, 2022. Surname origins and Americanized variations.
Deardurff surname history
3. History of the Amwell Church of the Brethren
Historical account documenting the congregation’s early German settlers, including Antony Dierdorff.
Read the church history
4. 1790 Federal Census, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania
USGenWeb Census Project. Transcribed index containing the name Abraham Deardurff. The original entry requires verification.
View the census index
5. Deardurff Family Research
Personal genealogical research compiled over several decades, including Ancestry family records, family documents, and historical accounts preserved at Deardurff.com.
Research note: The spelling variations discussed in this article come from historical place names, genealogical research, published references, and transcribed records. Not every variation has been confirmed as belonging to the same ancestral family. As additional original documents are located, this information may be updated.