Social practices associated with assigning a (locally unique) label to an individual.
1
vote
2answers
39 views
Name variants for Schufeldt?
I have an ancestor Charity Schufeldt (1792-1851, married Wait Hurlburt) that I am researching. To aid in my search, I'm looking for name variants for Schufeldt. So far I have Schufeldt, Zufelt, ...
8
votes
3answers
115 views
Is there a standard reference for alternative forms of a given or personal name?
I learned as a child that Uncle Jim was really my father's brother James. As a beginning family historian, I discovered that my g-g-grandfather often wrote the same name as Jas.
I could learn more of ...
10
votes
4answers
158 views
What is needed in a Name?
I wanted to find a way of raising this question within the limited strictures of SE so please bear with me on the explanation.
When we think of personal names, we immediately think of given-names and ...
11
votes
2answers
147 views
Did son-in-law have a different meaning in mid-19th century England?
Most modern dictionaries define family relationships in a narrow sense. So that "son in law" refers to the husband of your daughter. However, I have encountered a very different use in the UK census ...
5
votes
4answers
104 views
How do I deal with alternative spellings to names?
I am trying to find out information for an Arzula Hokum and am running head-first into issues with her name. Her first name sounds like Ursula and her last like some variant of Holcomb(e). How do I ...
6
votes
4answers
133 views
How can I identify all the possible alternatives for a surname
My ancestor Mary Ann Harper is frustratingly elusive as mentioned here. However, Harper is a surname that would lend itself to different spellings in censuses, birth records and the like — ...
11
votes
2answers
194 views
How do I correctly identify an individual who goes by multiple names?
This question is general to all inquiries where a person has differing last names in multiple records. In my particular case, I am researching my 3rd great grandfather Simon Zoller (1840-1902) and I ...
7
votes
6answers
403 views
Is there a chart type that shows myself, a chosen ancestor, every intervening ancestor and their siblings?
I use Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker 2012, and would like to produce a multi-page PDF chart, probably in Landscape orientation, that lists myself at bottom and a chosen direct ancestor at top, ...
13
votes
9answers
207 views
Which name should be a person's primary name?
People can have many different names over time. Examine the example of a woman who immigrated to the US from an Eastern European country. She could have three names over time:
Katerina Jurkiewicz ...
7
votes
2answers
110 views
When did patronymics cease to be used in North Wales?
Searching for the marriage of Griffith Roberts and Jane Pritchard sometime between 1855 (when the groom would have been about 18 and the bride 25) and 1866 in Caernarvonshire, Wales (where they were ...
