In his book, "The Tichenor Families of America," Harold Tichenor traced over thirteen generations of the direct paternal and maternal descendants of our first American settler with a similar name, Martin and Mary (Charles) Tichenor (Tichnell, Titchenal, etc).
A rough count of all thirteen generations totaled over 20,000 different names
and about 5,100 descendants using one of the many spelling variations of the
name Tichenor. Martin himself used the spelling Tichnell as well as a few
other spellings in various records. A tabulation of the names Martin's
descendants used at different times indicates Tichenor was the most popular
spelling:
| All generations | | spelling of name | | Phonebook CD | | total in families | | all connections | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,134 | Tichenor | 815 | 3260 | 5053 |
| Some just changed the ending. | ||||
| 54 | Tichenal | 15 | 60 | 93 |
| 204 | Tichnell | 74 | 296 | 459 |
| 77 | Tichinel | 20 | 80 | 124 |
| 39 | Tishiner | 11 | 44 | 68 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | |
| 374 | Total | 120 | 480 | 744 |
| Others used the second "t"and changed the ending. |
||||
| 279 | Titchenal | 68 | 272 | 422 |
| 269 | Titchenell | 62 | 248 | 384 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 548 | Total | 130 | 520 | 806 |
| ----- | ------ | ------ | ------ | ------ |
| 5,092 | Total | 1065 | 4,260 | 6603 |
More than a dozen other spelling variations of the name, such as Titchener, Titchiner, Titchener, Ticenron, Teachenor, Tichiner, Tichivor, Tishendor, and Tichnor showed up on the records. Anywhere from one to ten descendants used one of these names, totaling about 70 people. These variations should not be surprising, considering the lack of educational opportunities and the way the English language changed in the early colonial and frontier days of America. People misspell our name frequently, even today.
Based upon telephone connections in America today, the Tichenor families are spread all over America. Seventy eight of the families live in the NORTHEAST. Only twenty four families still live in New Jersey, another thirty four families live in New York and seventeen families live in Pennsylvania, 111 of the families live in the SOUTH EAST section of the country, 339 of the families live in the GREAT LAKES area and 139 of the families live in the CENTRAL area and 152 of the families live in the PACIFIC COAST area.
Moses Tichenor and his descendants were the single biggest cause of the change in the spelling of the name Tichenor. In 1779, when Moses moved to Virginia he allowed his name to be changed and spelled, Titchenal -Tichenal -Tichnell-etc. Many Tichnell, ect., about 61 of the families stayed in Maryland and the adjacent West Virginia area. In 1810, Moses' son, David, moved to the Harrison County area of West Virginia and many (about 68) of the families still live there. Three of David's sons used the name Titchenal and moved west to the Central part of the country, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas. Some of their decedents, about 34 of the families still live around St. Louis. Two groups of their descendants moved on to the PACIFIC COAST about 34 of them now live in Caifornia or the Northwestern area of America.