How many different ways did William Shakespeare spell his surname?
"The Six Signatures" found on William Shakespeare's will, and other legal documents collectively, found in the London Archives, show that William Shakespeare did not know how to spell, which is shocking considering he made a huge contribution to the Modern English Language. The six ways he spells his name in these documents are as follows, "Willm Shacksper," found on the Mountjoy Suit Disposition (1612), "(William) Shakspear" from the Blackfriar's Gatehouse deed (1612), "Wm Shakspea" found on the Blackfriar's mortgage (1612), William Shackspere from page 1 of his will (1615), "Wllm. Shakspere'" from page 2 of the same will, and finally "by me, William Shakspear," on the third page of his will.
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politicworm.com
What are your thoughts on this subject?
56 Comments
Sean Philips
Gery Tillmanns, please read your reference fully. It was spelled differently 27 times by his contemporaries- he, himself, only signed his name with six different spellings.
Jennifer Dyster
Nonsense. Before Johnson's dictionary there were no standard spellings in the sense we know today and even today proper nouns can be any combination of letters registered by the parent : Jorja for Georgia, Shorn for Sean , Kate Lyn for Caitlin etc
R3
I completely understand him. If you're signing your will, you'd better be drunk.🍷
Henry Ford 1889
There are at least 9 accepted versions
Chris Brown
I thought it was possibly more than the choices you gave so looked it up and found that there are a possible 80 ways of spelling his name. Have a look at this link: There are 80 recorded ways to spell Shakespeare. There are believed to be 80 different ways to spell the name of English playwright William Shakespeare, including 'Shappere' and 'Shaxberd'. Shakespeare is known to have signed his name using variations such as 'Willm Shakp' and 'Willm Shakspere'.
Fern Russell
I selected six though I knew it was technically wrong. There are six variances of his signatures on legal document but he signed his name more than that!
Aldis
Stuart Harris, I agree.. one of the questions misleading the people
Stuart Harris
Rubbish. Shakespeare spelt his name in 27 different ways, and there are 80 different spellings by his contemporaries! Get a grip question setter!! 😡😡😡🧐
janellejaworski
Oh six sorry my mistake.
Roselyn L Prollo
Shakespeare's is known to have signed his have using variations such as Williams Sharp " and Willm Shakespeare's.
Phil Kennelty
Six ways, and none of them right! Maybe we've been spelling it wrong all these years.
Gary McKnight
There seems to be some discrepancy on this. Some sources say it was more than fifty. It doesn't seem there is a definitive answer. Again, we need to be better in screening the questions.
Goochy
I had an uncle who did rhe same...Uncle Xavier !
Wendy Smart
Wow didn't know that, thou had a aunt the couldn't write her name and used a x to sign her name
james parrillo
celt, The parentheses mean he did not use his first name, at all, in the second signature. That must be the difference. Thank you, Christine, James' wife