Accessing information on your ancestors is the easiest it has ever been and now, more than ever, the perfect way to wile away your time immersing yourself in your ancestors rich history. But with so much information, and more importantly not of all of it correctly transcribed, how can you make sure you’re not missing key records? The information is mostly there, it’s just a case of finding it.
In this guide, we will be taking you through the search term variations of names and the common mis-transcriptions you might face when finding information about your relatives.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
- Records have been transcribed through OCR software and manually, thus there are errors present
- Records are ranked in date order by first name exact match then first name variant
- Sometimes the results are so many that not all first and surname variants appear
The Standard Search
The standard search in Findmypast defaults to name variants on first name and not on surname. What this means is that any name similar to your ancestors First name, but have the exact same surname, will also appear.
In the example below, we’ve searched for ‘John Monks’ and even with the delimited birth date of 1833 (+/- 2) there are still over 9,884 records. In addition, the name variants included Jack Monks, J Monks and (unhelpfully) entirely blank name fields.
To supercharge this search, aside from the obvious addition of relevant information like Year of Death and Location, consider exact searching for common abbreviation (see our list below for help) or for initial.
The Reverse Search
Another approach to searching, is to look for exact first name and a variant on the surname. This is particularly useful if your ancestor had just one first name or a common first name with a rare, unusual or surname with many letters.
To supercharge this search, aside from the obvious addition of relevant information like Year of Death and Location, consider exact searching but substituting similar looking vowels such as ‘o’ for ‘a’, ‘e’ for ‘a’ etc.
The Exact Search
The is the search we typically default to when beginning to look for records. It is the quickest and most concise way of narrowing down potential matches. The only pitfall of this search is that you are heavily reliant (and hopeful) on the transcription being correct. In addition, certain documents of the past only took a person’s initial and surname and so these would be obfuscated by an entirely exact search.
The Wildcard Search
One of the single most useful attributes within the search function is the use of wildcards. Wildcards are an asterisk placed within a name, instead of a letter, as is particularly useful if a name might be spelled in different ways (to learn more on how to use them in other forms of search, head here).
The Combination Search
Whilst each of the above approaches have their merits and demerits, there really is no replacement for running multiple searches on the same data set. It certainly is time consuming, but it really is the only way to ensure that you have all of the information.
Conclusion
We have provided a number of approached above to ensure you can get the most out of Findmypast. Whilst the site is far from perfect in its transcriptions, it is one of the better genealogical research services on the market. By taking it upon ourselves to submit requests when we notice transcription errors or erroneous and incorrect image attribution, we can all work together to make Findmypast a more accurate and useful place.
‘What’s in a name?’ ran the soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. ‘Quite a lot’ is the answer, if you ask a genealogist.
Common First Name Abbreviations in Findmypast Records
Abig. Abigail
Abr. Abraham
Agn. Agnes
Alex. Alexander
Alex.r Alexander
Alf. Alfred, or Alphonse
Amb. Ambrose
An. Anne, or Anna
And. Andrew
Ant. Anthony
Art. Arthur
Aug. Augustus
Barb. Barbara
Bart. Bartholomew
Benj. Benjamin
Brid. Bridget
Cath. Catherine
Chas Charles
Chr. Christian
Clem. Clement
Const. Constance
Corn. Cornelius
Danl Daniel
Dav. David
Deb. Deborah
Den. Dennis
Doug. Douglas
Dy Dorothy
Edm. Edmund
Edw. Edward
Eliz. Elizabeth
Elnr Eleanor
Esth. Esther
Ezek. Ezekiel
Fred. Frederick
Froo. Franco
Fs. Francis
Gab. Gabriel
Geo. George
Geof. Geoffrey
Godf. Godfrey
Greg. Gregory
Gul. William
Han. Hannah
Hen. Henry
Hel. Helen
Herb. Herbert
Hy Henry
Ioh. John
Is. Isaac
Isb. Isabel
Jac. James
Jas James
Jer. Jeremiah
Jno John
Jon. Jonathan
Jos. Joseph
Josh. Joshua
Josh Josiah
Jud. Judith
Lau. Laurence
Lawr. Lawrence
Leon. Leonard
Lyd. Lydia
Margt Margaret
Math. Matthias
Matt. Matthew
Mau. Maurice
Mich. Michael
Micls Michael
Mix. Michael
Mill. Millicent
My Mary
Nath. Nathaniel
Nich. Nicholas
Nics Nicholas
Ol. Oliver
Pat. Patrick
Pen. Penelope
Pet. Peter
Phil. Philip
Phin. Phineas
Phyl. Phyllis
Prisc. Priscilla
Pru. Prudence
Rach. Rachel
Ray. Raymond
Reb. Rebecca
Reg. Reginald
Ric. Richard
Richd (US) Richard
Robt Robert
Rog. Roger
Saml Samuel
Sar. Sarah
Silv. Sylvester
Sim. Simon
Sol. Solomon
Ste. Stephen
Sus. Susan, or Susanna
Susna Susanna
Theo. Theodore
Thos Thomas
Tim. Timothy
Urs. Ursula
Val. Valentine
Vinc. Vincent
Walt. Walter
Win. Winifred
Wm William
Xpr Christopher
Xtian (US) Christian
Xtopher (US) Christopher
Zach. Zachariah