Variant spellings of the Branscomb name

More than two dozen variant spellings are found for this surname in America, and additional variations exist in England and other parts of the world. (Ronald Branscombe of Hertfordshire and Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, and his sister Joan Branscombe Hunt have been conducting a “Branscombe Family Tree Study.” They found numerous additional variants.) County clerks and other officials often wrote what they heard when they recorded deeds, wills, marriages, tax records and other documents for a largely illiterate population. It is not unusual to see more than one spelling for the name in a single document. “Branscomb” is the predominant spelling for the progenitor in Brunswick County, VA, and for the next two generations. Major variants for subsequent generations include “Branscom,” “Branscome” and “Branscumb.” Occasionally the “s” is omitted to leave “Brancomb” or other variants. The oft-encountered “Branchcomb” may reflect unwittingly the derivation of the original name in Devonshire. By the time spelling became relatively stable several branches of the family adhered to variant spellings. The pronunciation most often encountered in America is “Brans'cum,” with a soft a, and the spelling has tended toward this rendition.