Genealogy Chat

Hi Everyone. I am new to the world of Genealogy so I would like to ask what may be a simple question but non of the searches I have made have provided an answer. Whilst searching my ancestors, on peoples birth or other certificates it very often has the letters/word 'Do' or 'do' in various columns, i.e.; Name and Surname: (Henry do), Relation to Head of Family: (do), Employer, Worker: (do), etc. Can anybody explain what this signifies?
What a wonderful world this Genealogy is. As I have stated I am totally new to this and just reading the records of people past, their lives, their trades and professions are just fascinating, all the butchers, bakers and candlestick makers as they say and non of the same endless boring professions of today.
Hope somebody can help.
Regards. David Robinson.

My first thought was "ditto" but without seeing the cert I can not be certain

It usually means ditto

Do is ditto meaning the same as the line above. e.g.

John Smith
Mary do meaning Mary Smith

Thank you very much everyone, taking another look at the certificates 'ditto' does appear to be a logical answer and apologise for being so stupid. I hope the next time I need any help I can offer you more of a challenge to your obviously superior brains on this subject. Can anybody suggest a simple and cheap book or other form of information for somebody like myself but I must stress 'cheap' as I have a very limited budget and some of the books on the subject are very involved and very expensive. Thank you once again for your very quick response, I will carry on bumbling through my ancestry but I find you have to look at least 10 names of the same name you are looking for to find just one right one. Its amazing how many people of the same name are born in the same year! Well thanks again. Regards. David Robinson

David.
Have you checked out your local library for genealogy books?
Even if thry don´t have the one you want, they can usually order it for you for a small charge.
Worth checking out.

try Google for looking for genealogy information

David, please don't worry, no question is stupid; we are all on an upward learning curve and, in order to learn, we need to ask questions. :-)

We found useful when we started researching our ancestral family the following two books that we borrowed from the library first of all; then we bought them, and still we find them useful as reference books.

Beginning Your Family History
by George Pelling

and

The Family Tree Detective - Tracing your ancestors in England and Wales
by Colin D. Rogers.

David, A few years ago I did a genealogy course and found that I could buy books very cheap on Amazon - sometimes for 1p. plus postage.

'Do' or 'ditto' is not a genealogical term.........it is part of English Grammar.

Public libraries are free.....................check out your nearest one.