The following sample posted by Dartmouth College is very interesting.  It shows the same phrase written 13 different ways (as if by 13 different people).   Greek Today - Handwriting Samples   The same would apply in English.  We were all taught how to write the alphabet in grammar school, using a very structured formation of the letters.  If we sat down with 13 different people, 10 years later, what would their handwriting look like?  Here are a few more examples you might find helpful. Greek Handwriting - previously posted on HellenicGenealogyGeek.com in April 12, 2009 Greek Alphabet Handwritten  - YouTube video  Greek Handwriting - Handwritten Letters in Greece by Harry Foundalis

I started playing around with doing my Greek family history research long before there were many records online.  (Oops that really ages me!)  The one person I found who had published any real information about research in Greece was Lica Catsakis. She has a website that is still a great guide for beginners -  LEARN HOW TO FIND YOUR GREEK ANCESTORS Included: About Lica Catsakis Instructions for Family History Research  - Writing Names - Beginning Your Research - Sources in Greece - Research in Other Countries - Research Tips Transliteration Chart Publications Family Trees and Histories Greek History Related Links Map of Greece (Regions and Counties)

Greek Surnames Do you have Greek ancestors who migrated to the United States or Canada but you can’t find them on any of the passenger ship indexes? Do you think you have tried all the alternate spellings when doing your searches? I ran across two great charts that have been put together by Familysearch.org Spelling Substitution Tables for the United States and Canada Commonly Misread Letters Table – this table shows how indexers and transcribers sometimes misread handwriting. When reading the chart you will see two columns – “Intended” (shows the actual spelling) – “Common Mistakes” (shows what the indexer or transcriber sometimes thought he or she saw) Phonetic Substitutes Table – The creator of the record sometimes misspelled the name in the original record because he or she misunderstood what the informant said. This happened very often when the informant came from another country (in our case, Greece). Also, many people were illiterate and did not know how to sp...

Greek Handwriting I was looking at some old photographs today, trying to decipher Greek handwriting on the back.   I kept referring to a Greek handwriting “cheat sheet” I have had for many years and thought many of you would also find this helpful. (I don't know where I originally found this helpful tool, so I can't give credit to the creator.)