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Free Tips for Searching Ancestors' Surnames

Free Tips for Searching Ancestors' Surnames

surnames: Search Tips And Origins Picking a Naming practices developed differently from region to region and country to country. Yet even today, hereditary The Name Game tend to fall into one of four categories: , a field of linguistics, is the study of names and (named from the ), occupational, or place naming practices. The American Name Society (ANS) was name. According to Elsdon , author of American Sur- founded in 1951 to promote this field in the and names (Genealogical Publishing Co.), a survey of some 7,000 abroad. Its goal is to “find out what really is in a name, and to in America revealed that slightly more than 43 investigate cultural insights, settlement history and linguistic percent of our names derive from places, followed by about characteristics revealed in names.” 32 percent from , 15 percent from occupations The society publishes NAMES: A Journal of Onomastics, and 9 percent from . a quarterly journal; the ANS Bulletin; and the Ehrensperger Often the lines blur between the categories. Take the Report, an annual overview of member activities in example of . This name could come from one’s clothing onomastics. The society also offers an online discussion or it could be given to one who was inexperienced. It could group, ANS-L. For more information, visit the ANS website at also mean a dweller near the village green, be a shortened . form of a longer Jewish or , or be a translation from another language. In your research, you’ll likely come across most what’s of the four main categories of surnames: in a

1 Patronymics: Virtually every culture seemed to have Tip: When searching online genealogy databases, use some form of patronymic system, though some relied on it wildcard characters (such as ? for one letter and * for zero or more heavily than others. In , the Scottish highlands, more letters) to find variant surname spellings. and the majority of names are patronymics; like- wise in Scandinavia, though these have additional complica- tions as we’ll see later. Here are the most common clues to patronymic names in different cultures: Cook and . During the Middle Ages, it was useful to • E nglish, Scottish, Swedish: - as in Olafson; also -ing distinguish the from John the tailor. The occu- from Anglo-Saxon times as in Browning (“son of Brun,” pations were fairly common across , and their use as which in turn means “”); also the prefixFitz- , the surnames took on a decidedly local flavor. Here’s an example nameUnderstanding the secrets of surnames can unlock Norman patronymic form as in Fitzpatrick. using Smith: answers about your . Here’s how to keep up with • D anish, Norwegian: -sen as in Sorensen • Finnish: Seppanen • S cottish: Mc or Mac as in McCall (“son of Cachal”) • French: , Fernald, Ferris, Le Fevre, Le Febvre the Joneses—and how they got to be named Jones • E nglish, Welsh: -s as in Edwards • G aelic: , Gowan, Goff (or O’Hara or or Santos or … ) in the first place. • I rish: O’ as in O’Hara (meaning “grandson of Eaghra,” • G erman: , , which means “bitter or sharp”) • Hu ngarian: Kovacs • W elsh: use of ap, or prefix of p- or b- as in Upjohn (“son • I talian: •  By Barbara Krasner-Khait of John”) and Bowen (“son of Owen”) Polish: , , • I talian: prefix of De or Di as in • Ru ssian: Kowalsky, • U krainian: -enko as in Kovalenko • Sp anish: , • Sp anish: -ez or -es as in Alvarez (“son of Alva”) • S yrian: 3 A few years ago, I agreed to help a friend do some To deal with such challenges and to make the most of the • Port uguese: -es or -az as in Gomes (“son of Gomo”) family research. Her , Jaques Rodrigues and Maria answers that surnames can suggest, it helps to know and • R omanian: -escu as in Tadescu 3 Place names: Surnames sprang from place names in Santos, were from southern . I thought this would be understand the naming practices in the cultures and geogra- • A rmenian: -ian or -yan as in Hovnanian several ways: when someone was associated with or living pretty straightforward. But I soon found out that her father’s phies of your ancestors. • Ru ssian: -ovich as in Pavlovich near or by a particular hill, brook, bush, dale, valley, island, real surname was Sebastian and her ’s was Maria. Yes, For starters, remember that last names are a relatively • Polish: -wicz as in Danielewicz bridge, meadow, road or village; when the person was known Maria Maria. And the further we dug, the more complicated recent invention. Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble not- • Tu rkish: -oglu as in Turnacioglu as coming from a particular locality; and when the individual it got. Surnames changed with every generation. withstanding, humanity didn’t come out of the cave with sur- • G reek: -opoulos as in Theodoropoulos (“son of Theodore”) owned a manor or village. Place-derived surnames dominate How are you supposed to trace your family’s history if the names attached. In Europe, as the population began to grow • H ebrew: use of ben as in Ben-Yehuda in and they’re common in and . names keep changing? Surnames are among the most impor- in the 10th century, it became increasingly difficult to refer to The first time I looked up my maiden name of Krasner in tant—yet most potentially puzzling—clues to your family’s someone by only a . Born of necessity, hereditary 2 Occupational names: Surnames derived from occu- a surname dictionary, I saw that it meant either “beautiful” past. You think you’re researching the Santos family and sud- surnames developed gradually during the 11th through 15th pations figure prominently on the list of America’s most or “fat.” In my mind, there’s a big difference between the denly you’ve got Maria Maria. Or your Sven Anders- centuries across Europe, generally following commercial common surnames, including Smith, , , Clark, two. But it wasn’t until Beider issued his compre- son’s son is named Magnus Svensson. trade routes. Walker, Wright, Baker, Carter, Stewart, Turner, Parker, hensive A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian

20 21 Discover Your Roots < familytreemagazine.com> Empire (Avotaynu) that I learned the name actually meant In our classification scheme, hereditary family names FREE DOWNLOAD someone “from the village of Krasnoe” and that it was com- based on nicknames often describe an ancestor’s appearance Note facts about your family names on a Surname Worksheet mon in certain localities in Belarus. (stature, hair, eyes, complexion, size), a characteristic or trait . Bob Allen of New York City recently told me of his fam- (strong, bold, brave), financial status, habits or special skills. ily name’s place-relation evolution that took an interesting Nickname-based names were popular in and Portugal. turn. The original name was Greenberg or “green moun- Sometimes, this form was mixed with the patronymic system used, as in the name of singer Jenny . Beginning in the tain.” When his ancestors came from Russia to America, as in the Italian D’Onofrio, “son of a giant.” 20th century, the Swedish government encouraged creation they settled in lower Manhattan on Allen Street, named for Like occupational names, surnames from nicknames vary of new surnames not based on the patronymic system. Ethan Allen (and his Green Mountain men of Vermont), and by language. So, for example, if an ancestor had red hair or a • Jewish: Even at the time of the mass wave of immigra- changed their name accordingly. ruddy complexion, might have been called: tion from 1880-1920, hereditary surnames among Eastern Official names of towns and villages began as descriptive • E nglish: Read, Rede, Reed, Bay, Gough, Rudd, Ruddy, Ruff, European were relatively new—maybe 100 years old names given to them by neighbors, and the original bearers Russ, Russell, Rust or less. In their villages, they were known as “Yudel the tin- of surnames based on localities were inhabitants of these • S cottish: Reid smith” or “Mendel, son of Mordechai.” For millennia, Jews places. such as -ton, -wick, -ley, -thorpe, -ham, -land • I rish: Flynn, Gooch had been using a patronymic naming tradition. and -ford described English locations. For instance, Sedgwick • French: Larousse, Rouse, Rousseau, Roux The Jews of Spain, who as a result of the Inquisition means “Siggi’s dwelling or dairy farm” and Stratford means • G ermany: Roth migrated throughout Europe, the Ottoman Empire and the Most Common US Surnames “Roman road near a river crossing.” Scottish locations turned • Hu ngarian: Voros , used hereditary family names as early as the into surnames include Carmichael (“castle of St. Michael”) • I talian: Pintozzi, Purpura, Rossini, Rossetti . The development of these names was by choice. British surnames still dominate the top 20 list of American and Forbes (“field place”). • S lovakian: Hudak Not so for their brethren in Eastern Europe. There, sur- surnames, but according to David Word, staff demographer German and Jewish names often added an -er to the name If he had no money, he might have been known as: name was required by government edict, beginning at the US Census Bureau, changes have definitely occurred of the locality, such as Bamberger, Danzinger or Berliner. Of • E nglish: Powers, Poor in 1787-88 in the Hapsburg Empire, 1804 and 1835 in the Rus- over the past 50 years. Such names as Garcia, Martinez and course, versions of such names without the also exist. • G ermany: Scholl sian Empire and 1821-1825 in the Kingdom of Poland. Rodriguez are growing in popularity, based on immigration Other examples include family names based on a geo- • C zechoslovakia: Chudak The process was sometimes arduous and frequently con- trends. These are the 20 most common last names from the graphic proper name or a description of a place: tentious. Under duress, many Jews were assigned fanciful 2010 US census. The top three names represent less than 2 • C hinese: (“plum tree”), (“field,” “wide sea” or Exceptions to the rule names, like my grandmother’s Zuckerkandel (“rock candy”). percent of the US population, down from 3.5 percent for the “ocean”) Naming practices among some cultural groups don’t fall Often, family members officially had different surnames. top three names in the 1990 census. • Du tch: Roosevelt (“rose field”), Pelt (“from Pelt,” neatly into these four categories. Here are some noteworthy This undescores the idea that not all people with the same meaning “marshy place”) exceptions to keep in mind as you go surname-sleuthing: surname are related. 1. Smith 8. Garcia 15. Hernandez • French: Cassell (“chateau” or “castle”), De Long (“from the • Scandinavian: In Scandinavia, men typically bore two • African-American: Many slaves assumed the names 2. 9. Rodriguez 16. Moore large place”) surnames: a patronymic and a farm name. Neither name was of their masters or, when freed, the names of non-­African- 3. 10. Wilson 17. Martin • G erman: Bremer (“from Bremen,” meaning “by the sea- passed from one generation to the next. The farms formed Americans they knew. In this way, they adopted the pre- 4. Brown 11. Martinez 18. Jackson shore”), Steinbach (“stony brook”) the center of people’s lives, dominantly patronymic 5. Jones 12. 19. Thompson • I talian: Lombard, Lombardi, Lombardo (“from Lom- and if they moved from one surnames of the English, 6. Miller 13. Taylor 20. White bardy,” place of the “long-bearded men”), Napoli (“from to another, their farm-based Hereditary surnames developed Welsh and Irish. Common 7. Davis 14. Naples,” meaning “new city”) names changed accordingly. names include , Jack- • Ja panese: Nakagawa (“middle river”), Tanaka (“rice field”) Some farm names date back gradually during the 11th through 15th son, Jones, Robinson, Wil- • Polish: Bielski (“from Bielsk,” meaning “white”), Wis- 2,000 years or more. If you liams and Thomas. niewski (“from Wiznia,” “cherry tree”) see Scandinavian surnames centuries across Europe. • Port uguese: (“from Ferreira,” meaning “iron with suffixes of –bo, -by, Does spelling count? mine” or “workshop”), Teixeira (“place of yew trees”) -gardr, -heimr, -land, -rud, In a word, no. In my grand- • Sp anish: Cortez (“court” or “town”), Morales (“mulberry -setr, -stad or -vin, it’s likely parents’ 1918 New York City tree”), (“the plain among hills”) they’re derived from farms. record, my grand- Websites In addition, a whole class of names distinguished arrivals The patronymic form dominated Scandinavian naming father’s mother’s maiden name was entered as Turnsky. • A ncestry.com from foreign places: practices. Children of Carl bore the surnames of The first time I encountered this family in the records for • FamilySearch.org • f rom Flanders: Flanders, Fleming (“son of Carl”) or Carlsdatter (“ of Carl”) in Den- the town of Zareby Koscielne in Russian Poland, the name TOOLKIT • G enForum surname message boards • f rom England: England or Englander, Engel or Engelman mark and , and or Carlsdotter in appeared as Dunsky. As I continued my research in these (in German), Langlois (in French), Inglis (in ) and . While this system worked well to identify the vital records I came across many variations: Donski, Dansky, • Jewish Gen FamilyFinder and of the • f rom Germany: Allemand (in France), Nemetz (meaning father’s given name, it wreaked havoc otherwise. In , Donicki, Doniczki and even Donszczkow. Jewish People “mute” in Polish and Russian) for instance, about half the people share 14 surnames. To deal Be prepared for lots of spelling variations in American • R ootsWeb Surname List with this dilemma in later years, the Swedes began to form records as well as records from the country of origin. Illit- • G enealogy Resources on the Internet 4 Nicknames: The word nickname is derived from “an eke surnames by combining two words, usually based on nature. eracy was high and spelling didn’t seem to matter much—the name,” or added name. In a sense all surnames began as extra Common names using this form include: Dahlquist (“twig sound was what was important. If you’re researching the names, so technically speaking, all surnames are nicknames from the valley”), Lindstrom (“linden tree stream”) and Sund­ name Dickinson, for example, you’ll also want to check vari- of one sort or another. berg (“sound from the mountain”). Often just one word was ants such as Dickerson, Dickason and Dickison.

22 23 Discover Your Roots < familytreemagazine.com> In the 1930s, the US government introduced a system Guild of One-Name Studies . The guild for coding surnames based on sounds, appropriately called registers all one-name studies, ranging from geographic Be prepared for lots of surname Books Soundex. It assigned a numerical code for consonants, and instances and name changes to the creation of a single fam- British disregarded vowels. Consonants that had similar sounds ily tree. Many of the registered studies seek to pinpoint the spelling variations in historical •  and of Ireland: The Heritage and were grouped together. My maiden name of Krasner, for origin of the name. TOOLKIT Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families by John Grenham instance, is coded as K625; if somebody spelled it Krezmer There may already be a research group established for records about your family. (The Wellfleet Press/Book Sales) or Krezmen, both would be K625. Passenger arrival indexes, your name—if there isn’t, consider starting one of your own. • Collins Guide to Scots Kith and Kin: A Guide to the Clans naturalization record indexes and census records rely on Post queries on surname bulletin boards (see the box on page and Surnames of Scotland (HarperCollins) this system, and it can make it easier for you to search for 22). You may be surprised by all the information someone • Dictionary of English Surnames by P.H. Reaney and surname spelling variations. else has already gathered and you may get to know “new” R.M. Wilson () Soundex isn’t foolproof, though. It doesn’t group the family members. • Families of County Cork, Ireland: From the Earliest sounds sh and sch together, a problem for finding some Ger- Times to the 20th Century: Irish Family Surnames with man names. And a name you’re researching may have been The Ellis Island myth found work in a tailor’s shop in London where his boss told Locations and Origins by Michael C. O’Laughlin (Irish entered so incorrectly that it gets a Soundex code you wouldn’t There’s an old about an Ellis Island official asking a him he had to change his name to something customers Genealogical Foundation) know to look for. That was the case with the passenger record Jewish immigrant his name. The nervous immigrant replied could pronounce. He saw the actor’s name Edmund Kean • Scottish Surnames by David Dorward (Interlink for my grandmother, whose name Zuckerkandel (Soundex “schon vergessen,” for “already forgot.” And so the offi- on a Piccadilly Circus marquee, and thus became Max Kean. Publishing Group) Z262) appeared as Zuckenkandel (Z252). Many genealogy cial entered his name as Sean Ferguson, a surprising name for If interviewing your relatives doesn’t help, your next step • The Surnames of Wales: For Family Historians and software programs have utilities that can easily code names a Jewish immigrant. is to get your ancestor’s naturalization papers—assuming, of Others by John and Sheila Rowlands (Genealogical for you. (For more on Soundex, see .) changed at Ellis Island. These are myths: Passenger lists your ancestor was naturalized, this will be a great help. The were created at ports of departure, where immigrants pur- federal census, available through the National Archives and Chinese Common or uncommon? chased tickets. Officials at Ellis Island merely checked off its branches or online via Ancestry.com and • Chinese Names: The Traditions Surrounding the Use of Common surnames such as Smith, Jones, Miller, Johnson the arrivals’ names. Pressures from community leaders, FamilySearch.org , can help pinpoint Chinese Surnames and Personal Names by Russell Jones and Brown became even more common over the years as bosses at work, teachers and previous immigrants from the the date of naturalization as well. (Pelanduk Publications) immigrants changed their original names to these to sound same hometown encouraged the new arrival to assimilate— For tracing your female ancestors, of course, you need to • In Search of Your Asian Roots: Genealogical Research more “American.” Several members of my own Mularzewicz and that meant Anglicizing the family name. Ellis Island find the original maiden name. The ease of that quest varies on Chinese Surnames by Sheau-Yueh J. family changed their name to Miller when they arrived in became a symbol of the assimilation process, but the truth is with the culture. In some countries, such as Italy and France, (Clearfield Co.) America from Poland. that it’s just a symbol. According to Marian Smith, historian it was customary for women to always use their maiden The good news about researching a common surname is at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services , years of assimilation seemed to collapse into one day at makes it easier to follow the trail of female ancestors, though • Our Italian Surnames by Joseph G. Fucilla (Genealogical that it might be difficult to determine how the information Ellis Island, whether the immigrant was actually processed it may take some getting used to. Note, however, that when Publishing Co.) directly relates to you. If you’re researching a common name, there or not. trying to find a mother and her children on a ship’s passenger try concentrating on your direct family and their localities Though advocating an unpopular view, Smith says logic list, the mother may be listed under her maiden name while Jewish at first. and documentation show that immigrants routinely changed her children may be listed by their father’s surname. • A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire On the other hand, if you have an unusual surname it can names on their own without any help from a government It’s important to know the culture you’re researching to by Alexander Beider (Avotaynu) be frustrating to find any information at all. Yet, when you do, official. My grandfather’s surname was Pryzant, pronounced determine the record-keeping practices. Civil authorities • A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom it will be much easier to understand how it directly fits into “pri-son.” Once he found out what that meant in English, he in the province of in -, for instance, of Poland by Alexander Beider (Avotaynu) your family. “Unusual names have two advantages—there are decided to change it to Perlman. There’s no paper trail to didn’t recognize religious Jewish . Children of • Jewish Surnames from Prague (15th-18th Centuries) limited numbers and everyone remembers it if they ever met testify to the change. such marriages were considered to be illegitimate and their by Alexander Beider (Avotaynu) one,” says family historian Pickholtz. “The advantages names often appeared on vital records using the mother’s and uses of the first are obvious. I was surprised to find how Only the original will do maiden name. Polish important the second is. People tend to remember some Regardless of how your family’s name may have changed, No matter what names your family goes by now, chances • Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, 2nd edition, elementary school classmate or casual acquaintance with an before long, knowing an immigrant’s original name becomes are there’s a rich heritage waiting for you as you learn more by F. Hoffman (Polish Genealogical Society unusual name.” a research must. The first place to go for information is to about the names that fill your family trees. Though my of America) Besides using genealogy surname search engines, enter- ask any and all relatives who might know. I was told that a friend’s has gone back to his family name of Sebas- ing your unusual surname in general search engines such family with the name of Kean was related to me. It struck and my friend, now married, is using her ’s as Google , Yahoo! , Bing

24 25 Discover Your Roots < familytreemagazine.com> STARTING OUT

Desperately Seeking Finding names is at the heart of genealogy. Try these seven surname research strategies, and you’ll open doors to family tree discoveries.

24 Discover Your Roots

224-29_Wi11FT4-29_Wi11FT Surnames.inddSurnames.indd 2424 88/25/10/25/10 11:34:2411:34:24 AMAM Surnames

BY NANCY HENDRICKSON

3 I’VE OFTEN WONDERED what it would’ve been like to do genealogy in the days before surnames. It’s hard to imagine so few people in any given town that a reference to a guy named “short Herbert” would be enough for people to know who I meant. I’m pretty certain genealogy would’ve been a sticky wicket—who knows how many guys named Herb lived in the same area? And how would you be able to tell whether “knobby-kneed Norman” or “rotund ” was his father? Amazingly, surnames didn’t come along until fairly recent times. In Britain, for example, they weren’t common until the 12th to 14th century, and even then the practice wasn’t universal. Many European Jews began using surnames only when it was mandated in the late 18th and 19th centuries. We genealogists, of course, are glad our families fi nally adopted these identifi ers—they make sorting out the Her- berts and and much easier. But surnames’ value to family histo- rians doesn’t stop there. You can open the door to even more genealogical fi nds by using these seven surname research strategies.

1 Find out what it means. Learning your surname’s meaning is fascinating and might even point you to an ancestral homeland. Last names came about gradually as populations grew to the point a single name was no longer a suffi cient identifi er. People generally added an occupation, physical characteristic, place or landmark (also called habitational names), or father’s name (patronymics). That’s how you got James Smith (black- smith), Herbert Short, Aaron Hill and Terrence Johnson (son of John). Of these four naming conventions, patronymics probably can most trip you up, since its forms change with the language and culture. In Russia, -vich is a common

25 < familytreemagazine.com>

224-29_Wi11FT4-29_Wi11FT Surnames.inddSurnames.indd 2525 88/25/10/25/10 11:35:2611:35:26 AMAM suffi , as in Ivan Nikolayevich: Ivan, son then type your surname in the box and 2 Study same-named folks. of Nikolay. (Russian women often use hit the Get Facts button. Of course, you’re not related to everyone -ova.) In Nordic countries, -son or -sen That’s how I found out about the with your surname. But Ancestry.com’s indicates “son of.” The suffix -dotter, name Winton, a “Scottish and English: Family Facts tool also can give you -dottir or -datter means “daughter of.” habitational name from any of various information gleaned from its records Gaelic patronymic surnames start with places called Winton.” The diction- on people who had your name, which Mc, Mac, O or Fitz. (There’s no factual ary goes on to describe how several of may suggest starting places for research. basis to the belief Mac is Scottish and those places got their name: “Those Just choose the fact you want from the Mc is Irish: Mc is just an abbreviation near Edinburgh and in North York- menu, including place of origin, occupa- of Mac.) shire are named from the tions, name distribution, immigration In some cases, as with Cooper, Wright, byname or Wine (mean- year or ports of departure. For example, Brook, MacKenzie and O’Connor, we ing ‘friend’) + Old English tun ‘enclo- if I look up Hendrickson, I’ll learn the can guess the meanings. For others, sure,’ ‘settlement.’” majority of Hendrickson immigrants such as Samora, Deeming and Winton, Are you more of a bookworm than came from Sweden. the waters are muddier. Some families a web surfer? Check Ancestry.com’s Again, use the data as clues, not abso- have been in America so long, modern surname source, the Dictionary of lute answers. To give you a country of members don’t have a clue where the American Family Names edited by Pat- origin, Ancestry.com looks at the num- name came from. How do you unravel rick Hanks (Oxford University Press). ber of immigrants with your surname the tangle? Keep in mind that your ancestors may departing from a specifi c country. But See page 28 for of online and have changed their name or altered its people often left from ports in coun- print dictionaries that list meanings and spelling from the original version. I tries besides their own. And the site’s origins of common surnames. You also would’ve sworn my Shore family was records only go back so far. Its earli- can consult Ancestry.com’s Learning from Britain, for example, but I dis- est Hendrickson immigration records Center < ancestry.com/learn>, whether covered through genealogical research are from 1851, for example, yet I know or not you subscribe to the site’s paid- that they adopted the name Shore my relatives were in by the access databases. In the Facts About based on their Swiss Schorr surname. mid-1700s. Your Surname box at the bottom right Read more about name variants in Ancestry.com publishes these facts in of the page, choose Name Meanings, strategy 3. print-on-demand surname books, avail- able through Amazon.com . (But watch out for bogus sur- False Advertising name histories—see the box at left.) Although the surname information Psst … over here! Want to buy a book with everything you ever wanted to know about your doesn’t always produce a definitive family tree? Scam artists’ efforts to sell unsuspecting people bogus family yearbooks “aha!” moment, it can point you in the and surname books are reminiscent of the street peddlers who sell Rolex knockoffs out right direction. of suitcases. You also can see maps of where in the You might encounter an “opportunity” to buy such a book at a mall kiosk, in a let- United States your surname was most ter, online or by e-mail (often from someone claiming to have researched your family common at several points in history at or even be a relative). According to the marketing, if you send some money, you’ll get US Surname Distribution . For names in Britain, visit family members, a coat of arms, recipes, photos and more. . Don’t bite. All these books actually offer is general information about a surname, generic photos and coats of arms, and telephone book listings of people with your name, 3 List variations whether or not they’re related to you. on the theme. In 2005, the state of Colorado sued a business called Morphcorp for defrauding Our ancestors weren’t as persnickety consumers with its family books. The suit alleged deceptive advertising, including the as we modern folks when it comes to perpetrator’s claims he shared the last name of each consumer who received the offer. spelling. Explorers Meriwether As it turns out, much of the books’ content was the same for every surname, including and William Clark spelled mosquito 15 “family recipes” and “family pictures.” different ways in their journals. This Other members of the rogue’s gallery include A World Book of [your surname], casual attitude extended to names— published by the Halberts of in the late 1990s, and A History of Your Distinguished my own family indiscriminately used Surname. None of the books contained a lick of actual genealogy specific to a particular , Hendrixson and - family. To avoid falling for such scams, research a book before deciding to buy and be son. Likewise, your relative may have suspicious of a company that says its product is about your individual family. spelled his own name various ways in

26 Discover Your Roots

224-29_Wi11FT4-29_Wi11FT SSurnames.inddurnames.indd 2266 99/1/10/1/10 3:53:563:53:56 PMPM All-Too-Common Problem

So there are 31,139 John Smiths in the 1900 US census—and your ancestor, unfor- tunately, is one of them. How will you ever find the right guy? We all have ancestors with common names. And if you don’t think you have any, as soon as you start hunt- ing for a particular person, you’ll find out just how common his name was. Not to worry. You can take these three steps to ensure the John Smith in a given record is your John Smith: 1 Learn as much identifying information about your ancestor as possible. 2 Anchor him with someone who has an uncommon name. 3 Make a chronology of his life events. Here’s how it works for your John Smith: He lived in Illinois, limiting the possi- bilities to 1,719. You’re sure he was in Chicago, Cook County—only a mere 537 John Smiths listed there. Lookin’ better. Narrowing the search even more, you enter his birth year of 1867. Only 13 match. But the clincher to identifying your John Smith is his ’s name: Bronislava Smith. Looking at another example, the surname Riggs ranked 886th of the 1,000 most common US surnames in the 1990 census. But finding just two or three John Riggses living in Accomack Co., Va., in the 1700s made the name common in my research. I used all three strategies to help me sort them out. First, I found my “anchor” for the John I wanted in his wife’s rather unusual name, Jemima Melichop. Anytime John appeared in a record mentioning Jemima or the Melichop family, I knew I had the right John Riggs. YZ The next strategy was learning more about each of the John Riggses than they probably knew themselves. I did this by searching original land and tax records. No Our ancestors weren’t as two men own the same property at once, or are taxed on the same horses, cattle and watches. So the details in these records become like fingerprints for a person with persnickety as we modern a common name. Finally, I made a chronological table of events for each John Riggs and scrutinized folks when it comes to all the dates. I feel pretty comfortable concluding that one of them, who died in 1830, almost certainly wasn’t the same man taking someone to court 11 years later. spelling names. » Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

records, and branches of the family may list of your surnames and all the varia- have used diff erent versions of a name. tions you can think of. In the 1800s and earlier, a large por- You also have to contend with varia- tion of the population couldn’t read, tions caused by indexers’ interpreta- write or spell. Many of those who could tions of old-fashioned handwriting. write spelled phonetically—and due to As anyone who’s ever sat staring at a colloquialisms and regional dialects, census microfilm will tell you, recog- name spellings changed depending nizing your own name can be a chal- where you were. For example, my North lenge. In some 17th- and 18th-century Carolina ancestor wrote Ferginny for documents, the capital letters I and J . A census taker hearing a name look almost identical, as can U and V. pronounced in an unfamiliar accent Lowercase letters also might throw probably didn’t spell it the way your you—for example, the so-called “long s” ancestor did. (frequently used as the fi rst letter in a Searching for variations and pho- double-s confi guration) whose droop- netic spellings is especially important ing tail makes it look like an f or a p. in the census and other indexes: If If you suspect this is the case with you’re not on the alert for every con- your name, you can go to the origi- ceivable spelling variation, you could nal document on microfilm and look miss your ancestor. It’ll help to keep a for words with letters you can read,

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224-29_Wi11FT4-29_Wi11FT Surnames.inddSurnames.indd 2727 88/25/10/25/10 11:36:1111:36:11 AMAM Websites Books Even a negative result can help by ruling ■ American Name Society ■ American Surnames by Elsdon C. out particular scenarios. My family, for Smith (Genealogical Publishing Co.) example, believed most Hendricksons ■ Behind the Name ■ A Dictionary of English Surnames by descended from “the frontier Hen- TOOLKIT Percy H. Reaney (Oxford Paperback dricks” family, but DNA proved other- ■ Common Irish Surnames Reference) wise (darn it). Surnames by Lars Menk (Avotaynu) only a handful of participants and fi nd ■ Cyndi’s List ■ Discovering Surnames: Their Origins no matches, it’s generally because the and Meanings by J.W. Freeman (Shire study doesn’t yet have enough people to ■ Danish Naming Traditions Publications) test against or the family had an adop- Spellings of Irish Names by Michael Don’t rely solely on surname studies, ■ Distribution of Surnames C. O’Laughlin (Irish Genealogical though. is best used in Foundation) in conjunction with traditional “paper” ■ Hispanic Surnames and Family History research, as each helps verify the other. ■ Italian Naming Traditions by Lyman D. Platt (Genealogical Once a DNA match places your ances- ■ The Scottish Macs in Scotland and to paper genealogy and look for records ■ Old Irish-Gaelic Surnames N. Ireland by James B. Johnston (Irish in that new region. ■ by David Dorward 5 Join a society or ■ The Origin of Czech Surnames (Interlink Publishing Group) one-name study. and Sheila Rowlands (Genealogical studies collect biographical data and ■ The Origin of German Names Publishing Co.) vital records about everyone who

28 Discover Your Roots

224-29_Wi11FT4-29_Wi11FT SSurnames.inddurnames.indd 2288 88/25/10/25/10 11:36:3511:36:35 AMAM and Wales gives researchers access to because you can search all of Cyndi’s records of everyone sharing a name. List using the search box at the top of They also can track names back to 1841 each page. This also will help you pick using the every-10-years censuses. up surnames listed as allied families on In places without a national register a website about some other name. (such as the United States), study admin- istrators collect one-name data from 7 Network on forums and lists. censuses, electoral rolls, military ser- Some of my best online surname fi nds vice indexes, deeds and even telephone have come via two tools that have been books. Many researchers also use the around as long as I can remember: International Genealogical Index and RootsWeb mailing lists and GenForum . familysearch.org>. The Guild of One- If anything, they’ve improved with Name Studies has age—maybe because they’ve had lots a registry of projects with administra- of time to pile up year after year of sur- tors’ contact information. name resources. If you’re interested in starting a study ■ MAILING LISTS: If you sign up for or society, choose a less-common name. a surname mailing list, you’ll receive Organizing a database of all Smiths, for e-mails (as they are sent or in digest MORE ONLINE example, would be next-to-impossible. mode) from everyone on the list. A typi- cal message would read: “Looking for Free Web Content 6 Surf surname websites. anyone connected to Joseph and Mary ■ Tips to decipher old handwriting information and a way to network with Philadelphia in the 1900 to 1920 cen- other people researching the name. suses.” You also can browse and search These personal surname pages might list archives so you don’t miss out on a For Plus Members focus on a single name or on a surname potential lead in a past message. ■ 10 places to fi nd maiden names mation varies and can include old pho- name at . Once you’ve found ShopFamilyTree.com and pedigree charts—or nothing. Some one, follow the instructions to sub- ■ American Surnames so be sure to verify what you fi nd. ■ GENFORUM: This popular website ■ The Surnames of Wales a Surname Resources page rootsweb.ancestry.com/surnames> with want to post on them. The site protects links to tools and sites for thousands of you from spammers’ e-mail address names. I searched for one of mine and harvesters by embedding your e-mail found close to 20 surname sites. Some address in a graphic when you post. no longer existed, but others had pho- One GenForum feature I particularly tos and GEDCOMs for download. like is the ability to search a specific Look at the Personal Home Pages forum. For example, I could select the category on Cyndi’s List , too, and click on the in the Phrase field to look for posts letter of the alphabet for your name. about Ballards who lived in that town. Remember, these pages are listed by the Tap this and other resources suggested name of the website, so if you use only here and see what surprises you find this list, you may never fi nd a site focus- behind your surname. ■ ing on your name. Why? Say you’re looking for Evans pages. Evans may not Contributing editor Nancy Hen- be in the title of the page, but rather, drickson’s surname is a patronymic sitting on a site titled Babs’ Family His- form of Hendrick (Scottish or English) tory Home Page. Don’t despair, though, or Hendrik (Dutch).

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224-29_Wi11FT4-29_Wi11FT SSurnames.inddurnames.indd 2299 88/25/10/25/10 11:36:4611:36:46 AMAM thetoolkit

TUTORIAL Refi ning Google Surname Searches

3 UNLESS YOU HAVE Axelquists without operators) returns pages that also lived in , so we’ll or Birtwistles in your family tree, your include either the word John or the add that location: “john snow” +mis- Google surname searches word Snow—not necessarily the com- souri +“north carolina.” Note the quo- probably produce oodles of irrelevant plete name John Snow. tation marks around North Carolina: hits. Web searching becomes especially Next, put quotation marks Without designating that as a phrase, frustrating if you’re tracing ancestors 2 around the name. Using quotes you’d get hits for North or Carolina, but with common or “search-unfriendly” forces Google to return only pages that not the exact phrase. Now we’re down surnames—monikers that double as contain the exact phrase “john snow.” to 6,700 results—and the second listing other common words, such as colors This technique has many advantages: has information about the John Snow (White), geographical formations (Hill) In addition to finding an exact name, we’re looking for. and buildings (Church). Look for a you can use quotes to nab words Google Keep narrowing your results to John Snow, particularly in , and would normally exclude, such as the, on, 5 the most relevant ones by add- you’ll get every newspaper, TV and where and how (called “stop words”). ing yet another place, a town where radio web page warning of an impend- When you add quotes, the top result John Snow lived: Lone Jack. That ing snowstorm. remains the physician John Snow, but search weeds out all but 70 results, Fortunately, you can solve this prob- you whittle the hits down from 9 mil- an easy number to skim through. The lem using Google’s built-in search lion-plus to 435,000. That’s still a lot of fi rst hit, a Lone Jack history site, tells “operators”—special characters that results, though—far too many to wade of John Snow’s donation of land to the force Google to customize the search through. town for a cemetery. You’ll also see a your way. These operators, which To refi ne the search further, we’ll county history available for free from include the plus sign (+), minus sign 3 add another operator: the plus Google Books. The history book con- (-), and quotation marks (“”), all work sign (+). It works like the word and, forc- tains an account of John Snow’s North together in a system known as “search ing Google to fetch pages that include Carolina origins and the names of his engine math” (so-called because of its your original term and the words pre- -in-law. resemblance to algebraic equations). ceded by a + (anywhere on the page, Be sure to experiment with vari- Using the tricks shown in this tutorial, not together). In the example here, we ous search strings, as each will return you can construct queries that work like know John Snow lived in , and unique results. For example, remove magic, turning those irrelevant hits into we’re guessing that any mention of the Missouri and North Carolina but keep a new set of genealogical discoveries. right John Snow will include Missouri. Lone Jack in this query to get a broader Begin by typing the name of your So type “john snow” +missouri (also try list of results. 1 ancestor in the box on the Google the postal abbreviation, MO). You can You also can narrow your home page. This initial search will give include as many additional qualifi ers as 6 searches to specifi c types of con- you an idea of just how many results for you like—just stick a + in front of each tent using the bar on the left side of the the name are online—and how crafty one. Adding Missouri to our search page. By default, Google scours every- you’ll need to be to find your family dropped the results to 12,900, including thing; click the triangle to see results member. In the case of John Snow, a genealogy site on the fi rst page, but from books, images, videos or another Google returned more than 9 million unfortunately, that’s not the guy we’re category. When we select Images, the hits, with pages about a famous physi- looking for. results include pictures of John Snow’s cian named John Snow coming up fi rst. Narrow results further by add- tombstone, as well as other Snows in Using a “raw” search string (keywords 4 ing another keyword. John Snow the same cemetery. 70 Family Tree Magazine 3 NOVEMBER 2010

NNOV10FTOV10FT TTOOLKIT.inddOOLKIT.indd SSec1:70ec1:70 77/27/10/27/10 4:59:424:59:42 PMPM 1 4

5 2

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If your search results continue clogging up your results, as in “wil- 7 to generate irrelevant hits, use liam church” -st -parish to fi nd people the minus sign (-) operator to exclude named William Church instead of par- specific terms. This is an easy way to ishes called St. William. eliminate hits that don’t relate to your Learn more techniques and get step- ancestor. Suppose your query returns by-step examples from the Family Tree results for people with the same name, University course Advanced Google but who lived in a diff erent state. Add for Genealogists . ■ sign to weed out non-genealogy terms » Nancy Hendrickson

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NNOV10FTOV10FT TTOOLKIT.inddOOLKIT.indd SSec1:71ec1:71 77/27/10/27/10 4:59:514:59:51 PMPM Explore Your Ethnic Heritage with Family Tree University!

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Don’t get lost at sea in your search for ancestral maiden names. We’ll show you 10 places to lay anchor and fi nd your female forebears.

3 EVERY FAMILY HISTORIAN runs into trouble at one time or another while researching a female ancestor. whose maiden name—the key to unlocking previous generations— seems nonexistent. Especially prior to the 20th century, fi nding foremothers is complicated by the fact that women jettisoned their last names at marriage for their husband’s surname, didn’t often own property and generally left fewer historical records than men. The documents you do turn up might list Great-great- grandma simply as Mrs. So-and-so. Without at least a father’s name, your “maiden voyage” may hit rough waters. Never fear: We’ve laid out a treasure map of 10 places to look for keys to your female ancestor’s past. Recovering a ’s maiden name requires a little exploration, so let’s begin with the most easily accessible records fi rst.

Marriage records The most obvious place to fi nd a maiden name is a marriage record. Depending when and where the wedding happened, a marriage license—and any compiled indexes of marriage records—might show only the bride and groom’s names, and the marriage date and location. The marriage application or marriage return (the form the offi ciant sent to the county court once the couple was married), however, could include many more details: birthplace and date, parents’ names and birthplaces, occupation, place of residence, number of previ- ous marriages, previous married name and mental condition (for example, “feeble-minded” or “epileptic”). These docu-

ments are usually at the county clerk’s offi ce. A good place MCKEE DARREN to start looking for marriage records is the Family History Library . Run a keyword search of the A prospective groom might take out a marriage bond in the online catalog on marriage records and the location. You can the bride’s county courthouse to declare he was free from borrow microfi lms through your local Family Search Center legal entanglements that would prevent the marriage. As a (see “The Great-Grandmother Lode” for information). source of maiden names, bonds are hit-or-miss: Some give You might fi nd more details in marriage banns or bonds. the wedding location and date, and name the bride, groom, A bann is an announcement of a planned marriage, off ering and witnesses or bondsmen (sometimes the father, or the public an opportunity to make any objections on legal another relative of the bride). I’ve also seen bonds that name grounds (such as another in the next town). Banns the groom and bondsman, and neglect to name the bride. But were posted in the home churches of the prospective bride it’s worth checking. Look in local libraries for marriage banns and groom for three consecutive Sundays. If no one objected, from area churches—many have been published in books. the couple was free to marry. Marriage bonds, if required, are fi led at county courthouses.

110 Discover Your Roots

SSPR11FTPR11FT MMAIDENAIDEN NNAMES.inddAMES.indd 110110 11/6/11/6/11 22:34:40:34:40 PMPM records Miss Popularity The holy grail of genealogy is a family Bible dutifully fi lled Knowing about female first names can come in handy with lists of births, deaths and marriages. Before the start during your research, too. For example, if your ancestor of offi cial vital records, a Bible is sometimes the only record didn’t have one of these monikers—the 19th century’s most tying one generation to another. Of course, Bible records are popular, according to the Given Names Frequency Project only as accurate as the person writing down the information. —you may For example, it wasn’t unheard of for marriage and birth have an easier time identifying her in databases, indexes dates to be manipulated slightly to ensure a nine-month and records. interval between them. The Bible’s publication date also can raise questions 1801-1810 1841-1850 1891-1900 about the authenticity of the family record. If the Bible was 1. Mary Mary Mary published after most of the births, marriages and deaths inscribed therein, the person who recorded the information 2. Elizabeth Sarah Elizabeth probably wasn’t working from fi rsthand knowledge. You also 3. Sarah Elizabeth Ann can date Bible entries by the type of pen or ink used—for exam- 4. Nancy Martha Helen ple, ballpoint pens didn’t come into common use until after II; felt-tip pens fi rst became popular in the 1960s. 5. Ann Margaret Margaret If family lore says someone has the venerable family Bible, 6. Catherine Ann Ellen now is a good time to contact all those far-fl ung . And 7. Margaret Emily Catherine check with local genealogical libraries to see if they have any 8. Jane Catherine Lily family Bible records that might be pertinent. 9. Susan Nancy Florence Obituaries 10. Hannah Ellen Ada A married woman’s newspaper obituary usually lists her 11. Rebecca Susan Lou maiden name, her birthplace and sometimes the names of 12. Martha Jane Ethel her parents. A detailed obituary of a prominent citizen may name the pallbearers, the clergyman who performed the 13. Lucy Frances Emily funeral service and even the organist. 14. Betty Lucy Ruth If you know what city the person died in, begin your search 15. Sally Harriet Rose with the website of that city’s major newspaper. Many sites have an archive feature containing at least the most recent obituaries, and often all the obituaries that have appeared 1907, but I’ve found them from the 1880s in county clerks’ online. If the date you’re searching for is pre-internet, contact offi ces covering some of the larger cities. One drawback to the newspaper to fi nd out how to research back issues. using death certificates is that a relative unfamiliar with To find an obituary in a historical newspaper, you first the deceased’s particulars might’ve provided—and guessed need to fi nd out what papers were published in your target at—the information. area, when they were published and whether they had daily If you can’t fi nd the answer going backward, go forward. or weekly editions. The local library and local or state his- Check the birth records of all your ancestor’s children. Many torical society will have this information, and may even have birth certifi cates list the mother’s maiden name in addition to microfi lmed back issues you can research. Online resources the father’s name and both parents’ birthplaces. It also helps such as ProQuest Obituaries are to look for clues in a family’s naming patterns. Sometimes sons available through subscribing libraries. Subscription sites were named for or grandfathers; for moth- GenealogyBank and Ancestry.com ers or grandmothers. The mother’s maiden name might appear both boast substantial obituary collections. as a Christian or for a . Don’t assume your You can focus your search by considering how often the family has a pattern, though. My father-in-law, the youngest in newspaper was published. In a daily paper, obituaries usually a large family, was named for the doctor who delivered him. appeared one or two days after a person’s death. In a weekly newspaper, especially in the days when news traveled by post, Keepsakes news of a death could take several weeks to appear in print. Look for genealogical information in your family : Cookbooks, baby books, diaries, letters and family corre- Vital records spondence are all worth investigating. States didn’t require death certifi cates, in most cases, until Family cookbooks often are passed from mother to daugh- after 1900. Some cities and towns kept records earlier: ter, sometimes with names and family information tucked , for example, required death records after October between the pages or penciled in the margins. (And it’s neat

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SSPR11FTPR11FT MMAIDENAIDEN NNAMES.inddAMES.indd 111111 11/6/11/6/11 22:35:05:35:05 PMPM to fi nd well-used and -loved recipes—the Cemeteries grease stains are a dead giveaway.) A married woman’s gravestone rarely I once solved the mystery of a great- lists her maiden name, but you still when my pro- can fi nd clues to family relationships duced her baby book, which had in the cemetery. Always record the a detailed four-generation family names on all tombstones near the tree fi lled out in my grandmother’s one you went to see, especially if unmistakable handwriting. If you’re the shape or carving of the stones lucky enough to possess an ances- is similar. Families were sometimes tor’s diary or date book, scour it for loyal to a certain funeral parlor, family information—and transcribe and might’ve used the same design it, while you’re at it. of tombstone. One of those inscribed Letters and correspondence might be surnames could be your female ances- found in books, trunks, desks or hatboxes. tor’s maiden name. Never discard anything without checking A child’s grave could be a clue that rela- every nook and cranny. If you don’t have any old tives—maybe parents—are buried nearby. Find- letters, create new ones with questions for your elderly ing a small stone reading “Infant daughter of J.O. and relatives. They’ll appreciate receiving letters from you, and J.A. Doe” next to the grave of an older couple with a diff erent will respond in kind. In her 80s, my grandmother sent me name might signal a family connection. You may fi nd that letters full of family lore, dates and the personal details that J.A. Doe, the mother of the infant, was once Jane Buck, a made her mother and grandmothers come alive. daughter of the older couple’s family. Some other archaic terms you may encounter are: Census records ■ CONSORT: denotes the person’s still-living spouse Although census records may not give the maiden name of the ■ RELICT: denotes the person was a widow(er) lady of the house, they can provide clues to point you in the ■ NÉE: French for born, referring to the maiden name of a right direction. Anyone residing in the who has a married woman, such as “Jane Doe née Buck” diff erent last name could be a member of the wife’s family. Always examine the families listed on nearby census pages. Court and military records Family members often remained in close proximity to one Court records can include marriages, , criminal pro- another, sometimes even establishing separate ceedings, wills, probate records, deeds and property transfers, within the same residence. It’s not uncommon to fi nd three all of which should be at the county courthouse where your heads of households—grandfather, father and married son—in ancestor lived when the record was created. Wills in particu- one home or in houses on the same property. In the 1900 Parke lar often list daughters with both their maiden and married County, Ind., census, I found on one piece of land Milton and names or, if the daughter is already deceased, her heirs. Sarah White; their son Theodore with his wife, Florence; their Military pensions will often reveal information about a children; Florence’s mother, Carrie (which gave me soldier’s wife or mother. You can request federal military Florence’s maiden name), and niece Edna Hendrix; and the records, from the Revolution to World War I, from NARA Whites’ daughter Jennie McGuire with husband and for a fee. See how to them at . Some service You can search the census at National Archives and Records and pension records are on Ancestry.com and Footnote. Administration (NARA) research facilities or Civil War pension fi les, in particular, often contain more your local FamilySearch Center. Or use a subscription website than just the soldier’s personal and military information. such as Ancestry.com or Footnote . (For more They’ll usually include the wife’s name, marriage date and clues to cracking the census, see “Enumeration Nation.”) location, and a list of children, with whatever supporting

Free Web Content For Plus Members Tip: Before 1922, ■ Strategies for fi nding female ancestors ■ History of childbirth be listed on strategies-for-fi nding-female-ancestors> ■ Researching women naturalization papers. magazine.com/article/womens-intuition>

112 Discover Your Roots

SSPR11FTPR11FT MMAIDENAIDEN NNAMES.inddAMES.indd 112112 11/6/11/6/11 22:35:21:35:21 PMPM documentation he was able to provide at the time he applied Newspapers for a pension. If the soldier was deceased, his wife could You’ve probably heard the saying that a lady had her name apply for his pension with the same information. My third- in the newspaper only three times in her life: when she great-grandfather Milton Hansford White’s Civil War pen- was born, married and died. In reality, there are many more sion fi le is a real treasure chest of information, giving his reasons Great-grandma Betty might’ve made the news. Try wife Sarah’s maiden name (Morgan), their marriage date and searching for your female ancestor in the society news pages. place, and the full names and birth dates of their children. Many newspapers ran columns detailing who was ill, getting Other military records can provide information about a married, having a baby or wedding shower, and visiting or soldier’s mother. WWI and WWII draft cards could name being visited, among other notable events. Here are some a spouse or next-of-kin, described as “the person who will other parts of the paper to peruse: always know your address.” For many , that meant ■ ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS: The local newspaper Mom, but because men well into middle age had to register for might’ve acknowledged a 25th, 50th or other anniversary. the draft, the emergency contact could be a or daughter. Sometimes you’ll fi nd a brief history of the couple, with names of their children and grandchildren, or a description of the original ceremony complete with location and offi ciant. ■ COUNTY FAIR RESULTS: Your ancestor might’ve been YZ known for her prize quilts, strawberry preserves or cham- pion bread-and-butter pickles. winning ribbons were Military records can give often listed as the “daughter of” the proud parents. If she lived in the same community for many years, you may be able you information about to work backwards to fi nd her maiden name. ■ FIVE-GENERATION PHOTOS: Finding one of these is like a soldier’s mother winning the genealogy sweepstakes. (My grandmother kept scrapbooks of fi ve-generation photos of people she knew, and was thrilled when she fi nally had one of her own in the paper to brag about.) You might get lucky and fi nd one with Missing a Mrs.? your ancestor’s family that links generations and names.

If you know the maiden name and are looking for a woman’s Church records married name, try these strategies: Colonial America didn’t have separation of church and state 1. Search legal documents, wills and probate records for her as we know it. The church held sway over congregants’ day- parents. Daughters receiving a bequest are sometimes listed to-day activities and major life events, such as births, mar- under their married name. riages and deaths. 2. Seek out obituaries for any —most will include Depending on the denomination, records from brothers and among those “survived by.” or christenings can include not only the child’s given name 3. Check the census records for all of the family’s nearby and parents’ names (including the mother’s maiden name), neighbors—look for a female with the appropriate first name, but also the child’s sponsors or godparents (often, family age and birthplace. Also check census records for her twilight members). Contact churches in your ancestor’s hometown or years—she may have been living with a or as a local genealogy societies for help locating these records. widow or divorcee. The Quakers, who were meticulous record-keepers, 4. Ask, ask and ask. Even near and dear family members recorded births, deaths and marriages, and also made note of remember things differently—ask everyone what and whom members reprimanded for gossiping or neglecting to attend they can recall. church services. You can fi nd Quaker records on microfi lm through your local FamilySearch Center. If none of these sources turn up the maiden name you seek, it’s time to start the voyage again, this time looking for the same records of any known siblings. You may get lucky and fi nd your missing maiden’s parents living with the other ShopFamilyTree.com children. Even if your female ancestor signed her name ■ Family Tree Essentials CD with an X, or was known only as the Mrs. to her Mr., when you set your course on these bearings, you’ll proceed full ■ FamilySearch Essentials on-demand webinar speed ahead. ■ ■ Brick Wall Strategies on-demand webinar LaVonda Krout is a writer living in southern Indiana.

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SSPR11FTPR11FT MMAIDENAIDEN NNAMES.inddAMES.indd 113113 11/6/11/6/11 22:35:32:35:32 PMPM NamesNaming Your ancestors’ names could be hiding clues to the identities of earlier generations. Find out what your cultural heritage can tell you about your family tree, country by country.

BY DAVID A. FRYXELL

3 IN TODAY’S AMERICA, where children are named after reality-show stars and parents christen their off spring Khaylee and Jaxon, it’s hard to imagine such a thing as nam- ing traditions. But not that long ago, parents routinely fol- lowed patterns for passing on given names from generations past. The traditions varied by country, but if you know your cultural heritage, you often can use these patterns to make educated guesses about the brick walls in your past. Just because your fi rst-born British ancestor was named John doesn’t prove his paternal grandfather shared that name, of course. But once you have a name to investigate, you can research possible connections. Here, then, is a look at traditional fi rst-name patterns in some of the most common ancestries that found their way to these shores.

British Isles Because British colonists made up so much of early America, fi rst-name traditions from back in Merry Old England often continued in the colonies. This scheme was common espe- cially in the 18th and 19th centuries: ■ the fi rst son was named after the father’s father ■ the second son, after the mother’s father ■ the third son, after the father ■ the fourth son, after the father’s eldest brother ■ the fi rst daughter, after the mother’s mother ■ the second daughter, after the father’s mother ■ the third daughter, after the mother C arles ■ the fourth daughter, after the mother’s eldest sister In families where this pattern would lead to duplicate names—both were named Robert, for exam- ple—the parents might skip to the next in line. In this case,

the second son would be named after the father. ALMA RAY ILLUSTRATIONS:

68 Discover Your Roots

0068-072_SPR12FT68-072_SPR12FT NAMINGNAMING TRADITION68TRADITION68 6868 11/6/12/6/12 11:06:27:06:27 PMPM Carlo By the 16th century, this English naming pattern was also common in Wales. The Irish followed this scheme, too, with the fi fth son typically named after the father’s second-eldest brother or mother’s eldest brother. A fi fth daughter might similarly be christened after the mother’s second-eldest sis- ter or the father’s eldest sister. Scottish families often followed this pattern, though some- times the parents’ names were skipped for the third son or daughter, going right to the grandparents. Some traditions then christened later children fi rst for the father’s and moth- er’s paternal grandparents for boys, and their maternal grand- parents for girls. Other Scots gave precedence to the father’s paternal side and mother’s maternal side for sons, but honored both paternal grandmothers fi rst for daughters. Some Scottish traditions provided for as many as 14 off spring of each gender, just in case, working their way similarly through the parents’ great-grandparents (the father’s fi rst for boys, the mother’s fi rst for girls).

French and French Canadian French families followed a similar naming pattern to the Brit- ish, with a few twists. The fi rst son was typically named after the father’s father; the second son, after the mother’s father. ■ the second daughter, after the mother’s mother The fi rst two daughters were named after their grandmoth- ■ the third daughter, after the mother ers, but the order varied depending on whether Grand-mère also used necronymics—naming a baby after a was still alive—deceased grandmothers got precedence. deceased sibling—so if you see two or more Anna Francescas Most children were given hyphenated fi rst names, which in one family, don’t assume it’s a mistake. Because parents could cross genders. A might be named Pierre-Marie, in chose names to honor older generations, they’d pass a moniker honor of his female patron saint. In French , many onto their next-born if the fi rst child given that name died. boys were named Joseph-something and many girls named Marie-something, in honor of the Holy Family. Spanish and Mexican In Hispanic families, many of these naming traditions com- Italian bine—adding to a pileup of given names. At , a child From innkeepers to inventors, everyone has a patron saint. might be given one or two extra names, including the name Italian villages adopted them, too, and the locals traditionally of the saint associated with the baptismal day. But the child celebrated their saint with an annual feast day. In America, might never be called by the fi rst baptismal name (nombre de Italian immigrants continued to observe their patrons’ des- pila). In church records, the parish priest often added to the ignated days. Neapolitans honor St. Gennaro; Sicilians from child’s name a superfl uous José or María that you’ll have to Palermo laud St. Rossilia; and in Torino, John the Baptist learn to ignore. rules. If you don’t know where in Italy your ancestors origi- nated, note saints or feast days that pop up in your research. Polish If you fi nd a promising mention, search for the saint’s name Polish families adhered to an entirely diff erent fi rst-name at or . Both are compilations of ancestor was born. Catholic parents typically named their patron saints listed alphabetically by the groups that adopted children after the saint whose feast day fell close to the them. This may lead you to your ancestral village. Then look child’s birth or baptismal date. So a boy born in early August, for genealogical evidence to back up your detective work. for example, might be named for Saint Dominik (Dominic), If you know your Italian ancestors’ traditional naming pat- whose feast day is traditionally celebrated Aug. 4. For a list of terns, you can use the names of bambini to guess the parents’ common Polish fi rst names and their associated saints’ days, and grandparents’ identities: see . ■ the fi rst son was named after the father’s father ■ the second son, after the mother’s father Russian and Ukrainian ■ the third son, after the father Similarly, children born in Ukraine and Russia were named ■ the fi rst daughter, after the father’s mother for saints on the Byzantine calendar, which diff ered from the

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0068-072_SPR12FT68-072_SPR12FT NAMINGNAMING TRADITION69TRADITION69 6969 11/6/12/6/12 11:06:39:06:39 PMPM 3 Text ■ Popularity Contest Today’s Jacob and Isabella would’ve likely been John and Mary if they’d been born in 1880 instead of 2010. The Social Security Administration tracks the waxing and waning popu- larity of American given names since 1880 at . There, you can customize searches by birth year, decade and state, or trace the popularity of ances- tors’ first names over the years. There’s even a chart tracking the five most popular names for boys and girls since 1880, as well as one showing which names have gained the most in popularity in the past year (Bentley and Maci) and which have fallen furthest from favor (sorry, Aaden and Analia). The most popular boys’ names of the 1880s feel like an exercise in nostalgia (or royal genealogy) today: John, Wil- liam, James, George, , Frank, Joseph, Henry, Robert and Thomas. Only William makes the 2010 top 10, coming in fifth place. The top girls’ names from the 1880s have weath- ered the years little better: Mary, Anna, Emma, Elizabeth, Margaret, Minnie, Ida, Bertha, Clara and Alice. Only Emma, at third in 2010, makes today’s list. Other names have come and gone and come again. Today’s top girls’ name, Isabella, ranked 896th as recently as 1990, and wasn’t even in the top 1,000 from 1949 until then. It was a respectable 218th in 1881 before beginning its slide. Alexander, today’s No. six boys’ name, stood at 73rd in 1880, slid as low as 233rd in 1959, then began a climb back to popularity. And then there’s Elvis. Peaking at 312 in 1957 during Elvis Presley’s heyday, the name fell out of the top 1,000 in 2010 for the first time since. For future genealogists, at least, that will make identifying the right Uncle Elvis a bit easier.

Roman Catholic feast days. If a ’s birth or baptismal date the suffi x -né to the husband’s. For example, Great-grandma fell closest to a male saint’s day, she might still be given that might show up as Kovács Mátyásné (equivalent to Mrs. name, feminized by adding an “a” to the end. A list of com- Mátyás Kovács) instead of Anna Kovács. You can learn more mon Ukrainian fi rst names and their associated saints’ days is about at . magyarnames101.html>. See common Russian name days at . Jewish Not surprisingly, Jewish families’ naming traditions in East- Hungarian ern Europe diff ered from their Christian neighbors. Biblical As with many immigrants, those from Hungary often changed names were of course popular, and beginning in the 1200s, their own names to be more American: Anglicizing the spell- many Jewish children were given two names—a religious ing, choosing an English equivalent or picking a new name name to be used in the , plus an everyday, secular entirely. Uncle John might’ve been János in the old country; name. In Jewish tradition, these names are not assigned until Great-grandma Elizabeth, Erzébet. the eighth day after the child’s birth (which means birth cer- usually have just one given name, but be aware tifi cates may read simply “male” or “female”). that they commonly put their family names before their given Jewish children were often named for ancestors, though names, the reverse of most Western cultures. So, for example, not in a hard-and-fast pattern. Ashkenazic Jewish children Szabó Mihály would be the Hungarian equivalent of Michael were never named for a living ancestor. Rather, a child might (Mihály) Taylor (Szabó, Hungarian for tailor). Women often be given a secular name that honors a recently deceased won’t appear in records by their own name, but by adding ancestor, often with a similar but not identical name.

70 Discover Your Roots

0068-072_SPR12FT68-072_SPR12FT NAMINGNAMING TRADITION70TRADITION70 7070 11/6/12/6/12 11:06:53:06:53 PMPM German and Dutch Families in the Netherlands might follow this pattern: MORE ONLINE ■ the fi rst son was named after the paternal grandfather Free Web Content ■ the second son, after the maternal grandfather ■ Women’s nicknames ■ the second daughter, after the paternal grandmother ■ naming practices recycled as necessary—were often enough. In a family with ■ Variant surname spellings of a grandfather’s name, such as Wilhemina or Hendrika. Parents in northwestern Germany, including East Friesland For Plus Members and adjacent areas, often followed this Dutch system, too. So ■ Untangling multiple monikers 1700s, because they mingled with earlier Dutch settlers. ■ Sorting out family names Johnson, claims that most Germans adhered to this or any ■ Researching surnames online other naming scheme are unfounded. Most later German immigrants to America, Johnson points out, came from areas ShopFamilyTree.com farther south, where no naming pattern was used. “Parents ■ Surname research strategies named the kids what they wanted to,” according to Johnson, ■ A Handbook of Scandinavian Names name, and up to fi ve more sponsors who did not.” ■ Christian Names in Local and Family History document because of the small pool of German given names: Was little Jacob named after his father or after his uncle Jacob? Or his grandfather Jacob? In German settlements in Pennsylvania, some experts have identifi ed three diff erent naming patterns. One follows the British scheme for the fi rst three sons and daughters, switch- ing to great-grandparents for the fourth through seventh of C rl each gender (with precedence to the paternal side through- a out, starting with the father’s paternal grandfather). A sec- ond pattern is the same for boys, but switches precedence for daughters, naming number four after the mother’s paternal grandmother. A third pattern inserts the parents’ eldest sib- lings in position three, before the parents themselves. Both Dutch and German families typically gave children two Christian names—Maria Wilhelmina, for example. This may have been to keep a favorite name in the family. All the sons, for instance, might be named Johann plus a second name. In daily life the child was usually called by the second name, though sometimes Dutch parents might choose a third name for everyday use.

Greek Traditionally, Greek families named their children after the father’s parents and then the mother’s parents. In this male- dominated naming scheme, girls also can be named after their grandfathers (e.g. Dimitra for Grandpa Dimitris). The father’s name often was added as a middle name. Exceptions to the pattern occurred when, for example, a relative died soon before a child was born, in which case the newborn might be named in honor of the recently deceased.

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0068-072_SPR12FT68-072_SPR12FT NAMINGNAMING TRADITION71TRADITION71 7171 11/6/12/6/12 11:07:04:07:04 PMPM International Flair Immigrants often changed their names to sound more “American,” which can hamper your search for US records. If you’re lucky, your ancestor simply started using an English form of his or her given name. Keep in mind that just as in the United States, names in other languages come in multiple forms—common versions for eight popular names are listed here. Also, transliteration from your kin’s native language might result in varied English spellings. Download a long chart listing given names with in 11 languages from .

ENGLISH FRENCH GERMAN SPANISH ITALIAN POLISH RUSSIAN Alexander Alexandre Alec Alejandro Alessandro Aleksander Aleksandr Catherine Catherine Catherine Catarina Caterina Katarzyna Yekaterina Elizabeth Élisabeth Elisabet Isabel Elisabetta Elzbieta Yelizaveta John Jean Johann Juan Giovanni Jan Ivan Mary Marie Mary, Marie Maria Maria Marya Mariya Michael Michel Michael Miguel Michelangelo Michał Mikhail Peter Pierre Peter Pietro Piotr Pyotr William Guillaume Wilhelm Guillermo Guglielmo Bolesław Vilhelm

Children were also named after patron saints, particularly Subsequent names honored the parents’ siblings. This pat- if the child’s birth coincided with a saint’s feast day. Unlike tern wasn’t a hard rule, so there can be exceptions, cautions many cultures that have a paucity of given names, Greek Elisabeth Thorsell, editor of the Swedish-American Genealo- families enjoyed a wide variety of names to choose from. gist . She adds: “If the children in the family do not seem to follow this rule, it might be that Scandinavian you have not found all the children, like babies who died soon The system common throughout Scan- after birth. If a spouse died, the next child of the right sex in dinavia into the late 19th and early 20th century solves one the next marriage was often named for the deceased spouse.” genealogy puzzle while creating another: There’s seldom any Whereas most countries skipped duplicates, if both grand- question about the fi rst name of a person’s father, because fathers were named Per, a Scandinavian family might wind children took their surnames from their father’s fi rst name. up with two sons named Per. Other duplicates may arise if a In Sweden, Magnus’ son’s last name became Magnusson; his child was sick when the younger one was born, and the family daughter’s would be Magnusdotter. In Denmark and Nor- wanted to make sure to have a Lars (or whatever), just in case. way, if Hans had a son named Lars, the boy would Note that after about 1840, upper- and middle-class fami- be known as Lars (or Hansøn) and his sister Anna lies and those living in towns began to use two given names, would be Anna Hansdatter. Urban Danes began to adopt per- and rural people slowly followed suit. Anna Maja Pehrsdot- manent surnames about 1850, while rural areas kept patro- ter, when she got to America, might go by Anna or Mary or nymics until about 1875. Permanent surnames didn’t become Maria, or even switch back and forth. offi cial in Sweden until 1901 and Norway until 1923. No matter your ancestors’ nationality, it’s smart to abide still uses patronymics. Changing surnames create their own by this advice from Thorsell: “It might be dangerous to build challenges, but at least you know the father’s given name. ancestral trees by just assuming that these naming rules are Children’s given names were generally assigned as follows: very strong, as you might not have found all the children of a ■ the fi rst son was named after the father’s father couple,” she says. “But used carefully, it can be regarded as a ■ the second son, after the mother’s father hint or a possibility.” And sometimes a hint, like a chink or a ■ the third son, after the father (often resulting in a doubled crack, is all you need to break down those brick walls. ■ name, as in Haakon Haakonson, due to patronymics) ■ the fi rst daughter, after the mother’s mother Contributing editor David Allen Fryxell has no idea ■ the second daughter, after the father’s mother where his fi rst name came from, though “Allen” was an uncle ■ the third daughter, after the mother by marriage.

72 Discover Your Roots

0068-072_SPR12FT68-072_SPR12FT NAMINGNAMING TRADITION72TRADITION72 7272 11/6/12/6/12 11:07:20:07:20 PMPM Decode Your Family Names! Discover the meaning of more than 10,000 names from around the world in this one comprehensive ebook! Includes emigration patterns and pronunciation guides for each ethnicity. GET IT TODAY AT

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