Genealogy Chat

If you need to do your own soundex for a name check the soundex code at; http://www.familytreemagazine.*com/soundex.html Remove the *

Try writing out your ancestors name and then looking at your handwriting, maybe adding a flourish or two to a couple of letters. My great grandfather William HORNAGE is listed as HOMAGE on his marriage certificate as the R and the N run together and look like an M. Fortunately I knew my great grandmothers name otherwise I might not have found it.

Thanks so much guys - you've certainly given me a few ideas to try. With very best wishes and happy searching to all, Mariaxxx

I know it might sound daft but try putting surname in the forename box - or vice versa. There are some off mistranscriptions out there! Jill

One thing that might help you work out some surname variants is to use the search facility here on GR. Just go to the name search and type in the surname you want, and see what comes up. You can then use them to help with your search on Ancestry.

I have to admit I don't like the soundex facility on ancestry. Wild cards (using a * ) can be useful, but something else that I do when there are lots of possible variations for a surname is use the other info I have: First name + year + birthplace. Of course this technique can differ depending on the popularity of the first name and accuracy of year. I've found some just on year +birthplace and name + birthplace. Of course, with ancestry being messed up with the listing of birthplace at the moment this isn't very helpful. Also, as has been said, think about how the word sounds and try spelling it how it might sound or using obvious mistakes (an l instead of t, or F instead of P. Even one t or two). Liz

Try just using Christian name, year and place of birth or, if you have spouse or parents' names, enter them too. Can bring up a lot to search through but I have found several mis-transcriptions this way. Also try changing first letter of surname, I have found P transcribed as B quite a few times.

Maria I know it is nice to find your own rellies but if you get stuck you can always post some names on here, there are many kind people who will help. Georgina.

Think of how the name may have been pronounced.... for instance Gouter may be transcribed as Gota.... its hard but soundex is useful but never give up.... I have Davenports that were transcribed as Deconpools. Good luck xx

If your using a site like ancestry or freebmd then you can turn the soundex on in the case of freebmd use the phonetics search Also in ancestry as with alot of other places you can use wildcards *, so you just use the first three letters of a name and then put the * in.

Dear all, as a relative newcomer to this family tree business I've been impressed by how people can seem to find people on censuses etc even if the surname is slightly different. I'm wondering if searching on variants of my family tree names would get me any further back in my research but how do you work out what the possible variants are? For reference some of the names I am looking for are Goater, Bourke, Jolley. Any help appreciated. Many thanks Maria