As other people have pointed out, be careful with spelling variations and drift in how the name was spelled.

In the U.S., census records aren't always consistent. Nor are county records, but they're good places to start. Many surnames obtained different spellings simply because the person writing down the name didn't know how to spell it. My ancestors started out spelling their surname Cremeens, then it drifted to Cremen on one branch while the other branch spelled the surname Creameans. Be sure and check various spellings when looking for ancestors.