In the field of phonetics, /l/ and /r/ are called liquid constanants.
They interchange easily.
For examples, the Spanish word for recruit is recluta. The word for
Algeria is Argelia.
Cherokee is TsaLaGi in their language. The list could go on for a very
long time.
In the language of Catalonia, they call themselves catalan. Interchange
the /l/ with an /r/, and you get cataran.....Catron.
When six Kettenrings joined the Virginia militia in 1774 to fight in
Lord Dunsmore's War against the Shawnee, their British paymaster
enrolled them as Catron, not Kettenring.
The next part of my unending research projectwill be to try to discover
the name of that British officer. The British army had centuries of
experience fighting the Spanish. I will try to learn whether that
paymaster had any service that mighthave exposed him to the name Catron
among the Spanish enemy. Who knows? Perhaps he recognized our
ancestorsas Iberians and deliberately transmuted our name back to the
original. This is a pretty steep hill, even for a stepper like me! But
it is fun! :-D-