>>I'm involved with an organization that does a lot of work with Russian immigrants and the transliterations they've chosen are fascinating. In a lot of places where I would use an "i" or a "y," they have both, such as "Dmitriy."
>
>They don't translate names but transliterate them.

Sergey;

LOL!

Here is a new word – how about transbliterate? :)

The Polish side of my family has lived in San Francisco since 1849, and the Irish side even longer. Looking at all official documents (census, birth certificates, etc.) is very interesting! Talk about mistakes!

Just one small error – there is no letter “v” in Polish, but there is now! Almost every document we have found has the spelling of the last name incorrect and different from each other. The variations of Piotrowski are amazing! The Irish side did not do very well either! :)

Tom