A Genealogy Guide: Researching Your Surname

From WikiName

What does your surname mean? Is it French, German, Italian…? How did you get it? Who are the people that passed it down to you, and where did they come from? If you want answers to questions like these, you’ll have to trace your roots and learn about your family tree. You’ll have to become a genealogist.

Warning: Before you decide to get into it, be aware that while genealogy is challenging, fun, and gratifying, it’s also addictive, and there’s no 12-step program for it. In just a few short weeks, when you’re hot on the trail of an elusive ancestor, you’ll glance at the clock and be shocked to see that it’s 4:00AM – and you won’t go to bed! Soon you’ll be breathing, eating, and sleeping genealogy. You won’t think about anything else, and you won’t talk about anything else. Friends and co-workers will run and hide when they see you coming, but that’s okay because you can make new friends in genealogy chat rooms and on genealogy message boards.

GETTING STARTED

Now, if you still want to get into genealogy, here are some where-to-start tips from a totally addicted amateur genealogist.

Your first stop is cyndislist.com – a very user-friendly site with over 260,000 categorized genealogy links. Bookmark it.

• Start with “Beginners.” Here you’ll find links to “how-to” sites where you can learn how to get started.
• Next, click on “Free Stuff.” You’ll need all sorts of charts and forms to keep your research organized, and you can get them for nothing, but don’t go nuts and print every single one right away, because you won’t need all of them. The first one you want is a family questionnaire to send to all your relatives. Mail or email them out now, because it’ll be a while before you get any of them back (if you get any of them back).

Ancestry.com, the genealogy web site, has a huge database of records and, in many cases, printable copies of the originals. Limited access is free, and though the fees for full access may seem a bit steep, they’re actually pretty reasonable considering what you get. If you’re serious about your new hobby, pony up the dough for this one.

• rootsweb.ancestry.com, “the oldest and largest FREE genealogy site, supported by Ancestry.com” is an extension of ancestry.com. Go to “Getting Started at RootsWeb” before you try to do anything on this site.
• searchforancestors.com a free resource which provides detailed etymologies of first and last names.

FamilySearch, “the largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world,” is a great resource, but be careful what you take from this site. While they have plenty of official records, they also have a lot of user-submitted material which may not be completely accurate. If you find something there that differs from what you’ve found elsewhere, make a note, but keep in mind that it may not be quite right.

KindredTrails.com - free stuff, free stuff, free stuff!

OneFamilyTree.com - create your own web page for free.

AncestralFindings.com is a site where you can request free look-ups. It comes in handy when the information you want isn’t available online.

Now and then you’ll find an ancestor’s name in the index of a book or record kept in the National Archives. If you can’t go there, you can send a written look-up request; there’s a fee for this service. For more information, go to archives.gov/genealogy

You can find official records at state and county historical societies. Go in person if you can, otherwise you can write for information. There’s usually a small fee involved, and some state societies require membership.

Go to libraries (you know, those places with all the books) and look around in the genealogy section. Some libraries have genealogy reference sections where you can find gems of information that you can’t find anywhere else. Most libraries don’t lend those books, so plan on spending some time there.

SOFTWARE

Before you start your research, get a good genealogy program. This is essential. Go to cyndislist.com, where you’ll find comparisons, reviews, and links. A free program will suit your needs for now.

TIPS AND HINTS

• Genealogy without documentation is mythology. Record every single source you use, starting with the very first tidbit of information you find, and be wary of undocumented sources.
• No matter how insignificant or tiny a bit of information seems, make a record of it. You might want it later, and if you didn’t write it down, there’s no way you’ll remember where you found it.
• Do not do all of your research on the internet.
• When searching for a name, think of all the possible misspellings you can, and look them up too. Most, if not all, genealogy search engines have soundex, which searches for names that sound similar to the one you’re looking for, but don’t rely on it to find all of them.
• If you know how a name was pronounced in the native language of your ancestors, try entering a phonetic spelling into a search engine. (For example, in German the letter “v” is pronounced like the letter “f” in English.) Busy clerks at immigration points didn’t stop to ask your ancestors how to spell their names.
• A search on “geneology” can yield results that didn’t come up when you spelled it correctly.

Caveat: Do not take everything you find online as fact. Many amateur genealogists have added to, subtracted from, or changed the histories of their families in order to make them look good. Others have added their own speculation or theories. Stick to official sources, and take all others with a grain of salt.

MURPHY WAS A GENEALOGIST

• The vital piece of information you need was lost when the courthouse burned down.
• Sooner or later you’ll discover that you don’t exist.
• The missing link in your ancestry could be found only in the 1890 census. (You’ll understand this one later.)
• Your great-great-grandparents, whose last name was Sullivan, came to America from Ireland during the potato famine, and then they adopted your great-grandfather from an orphanage in New York.
• For a few hundred years, all your ancestors were named George, Robert, or Hugh.
• When you finally solve the mystery you’ve been working on for two years, Aunt Matilda will say, “I could have told you that.”
• Your cousin sold “all that old junk in Grandma’s attic” at a rummage sale.
• Ink fades and paper deteriorates at a rate inversely proportional to the value of the data recorded.

“Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name Bzjxxllwcp is pronounced Jackson." – Mark Twain

“He who has no fools, knaves, or beggars in his family was begot by a flash of lightening.” – Old English proverb.

Author: Madeleine Wieder