Example
of a family tree. Reading left to right Lucas Grey is the father of
three children, the grandfather of five grandchildren and the
great-grandfather of three siblings Joseph, John and Laura Wetter.
Family tree showing the relationship of each person to the orange person, including cousins and gene share.
A family tree, or pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. The more detailed family trees used in medicine and social work are known as genograms.
Family history representations
Genealogical data can be represented in several formats, for example as a pedigree or ancestry chart.
Family trees are often presented with the oldest generations at the top
and the newer generations at the bottom. An ancestry chart, which is a
tree showing the ancestors of an individual, will more closely resemble a
tree in shape, being wider at the top than the bottom. In some ancestry
charts, an individual appears on the left and his or her ancestors
appear to the right. A descendancy chart, which depicts all the
descendants of an individual will be narrowest at the top.
Family trees can have many themes. One might encompass all direct
descendants of a single figure, or all known ancestors of a living
person. Another might include all members of a particular surname (e.g.
male-line descendants). Yet another approach is to construct a tree
including all holders of a certain office, such as kings of Germany. This relies on dynastic marriage to hold together the links between dynasties.
The image of the tree probably originated with one in medieval art of the Tree of Jesse, used to illustrate the Genealogy of Christ in terms of a prophecy of Isaiah
(Isaiah 11:1). Possibly the first non-Biblical use, and the first to
show full family relationships rather than a purely patrilineal scheme,
was that involving family trees of the classical gods in Boccaccio's Genealogia deorum gentilium ("On the Genealogy of the Gods of the Gentiles"), whose first version dates to 1360.
and so on, back through the generations. Apart from No. 1, who can be
male or female, all even-numbered persons are male, and all
odd-numbered persons are female. In this scheme,
the number of any person's father is double the person's number, and a
person's mother is double the person's number plus one. This system can
be displayed as a tree:
Screenshot of Gramps (v. 5.0.1) displaying a fan chart and the Given name cloud gramplet on the bottom.
A "fan chart" features a half circle chart with concentric rings: the
person of interest is the inner circle, the second circle is divided in
two (each side is one parent), the third circle is divided in four, and
so forth. Fan charts depict paternal and maternal ancestors.
Graph theory
While family trees are depicted as trees, family relations do not in general form a tree in the sense of graph theory,
since distant relatives can mate, so a person can have a common
ancestor on their mother's and father's side. However, because a parent
must be born before their child is born, a person cannot be their own
ancestor, and thus there are no loops, so ancestry forms a directed acyclic graph.
The graphs of matrilineal descent ("mother" relationships between women) and patrilineal descent ("father" relationships between men) are trees however.
Assuming no common ancestor, an ancestry chart is a perfect binary tree,
as each person has exactly one mother and one father, for two parents;
these thus have a regular structure. A descendancy chart, on the other
hand, does not in general have a regular structure, as a person can have
any number of children, or none at all.
Notable examples
The longest family tree in the world is that of the Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551–479 BC), and he is the descendant of King Tang
(1675–1646 BC). The tree spans more than 80 generations from him, and
includes more than 2 million members. An international effort involving
more than 450 branches around the world was started in 1998 to retrace
and revise this family tree. A new edition of the Confucius genealogy
was printed in September 2009 by the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee,
to coincide with the 2560th anniversary of the birth of the Chinese
thinker. This latest edition is expected to include some 1.3 million
living members who are scattered around the world today.
There are extensive genealogies for the ruling dynasties of
China, but these do not form a single, unified family tree; and it is
unclear at which point(s) the most ancient historical figures named
become mythological.
In Japan, the ancestry of the Imperial Family
is traced back to the mythological origins of Japan. The connection to
persons from the established historical record begins in the mid-first
millennium AD.
Another very old and extensive tree is that of the Lurie lineage—which includes Sigmund Freud and Martin Buber—and traces back to Jehiel Lurie, a 13th-century rabbi in Brest-Litovsk, and from there to Rashi and purportedly back to the legendary King David, as documented by Neil Rosenstein in his book The Lurie Legacy. The 1999 edition of the Guinness Book of Records recorded the Lurie family in the "longest lineage" category as oldest-known living family in the world today.
The Biblical genealogies of Jesus also claim descent from the House of David; covering a period of approximately 1000 years.
In the Torah and Old Testament, genealogies are provided for many
biblical persons, including a record of the descendants of Adam.
According to the Torah, the Kohanim are descended from Aaron. Genetic testing performed at the Technion has shown that most modern Kohanim share common Y-chromosome origins, although there is no complete family tree of the Kohanim.
In the Islamic world, claimed descent from the prophet Mohammed
greatly enhanced the status of political and religious leaders. New
dynasties often used claims of such descent to help establish their
legitimacy.
In Europe, the pedigree of Niall Noígíallach would be a contender for the longest, through Conn of the Hundred Battles (fl. 123 AD); in the legendary history of Ireland he is further descended from Breogán,
and ultimately from Adam, through the sons of Noah. Many noble and
aristocratic families of European and West-Asian origin can reliably
trace their ancestry back as far as the mid to late first millennium AD;
some claiming undocumented descent from Classical Antiquity or
mythological ancestors.
Before the Dark Ages, in the Greco-Roman
world, some reliable pedigrees dated back perhaps at least as far as
the first half of the first millennium BC; with claimed or mythological
origins reaching back further. Roman
clan and family lineages played an important part in the structure of
their society, and were the basis of their intricate system of personal
names. However, there was a break in the continuity of records-keeping
at the end of Classical Antiquity. Records of the lines of succession of the Popes
and the Eastern Roman Emperors through this transitional period have
survived, but these are not continuous genealogical histories of single
families. See: descent from antiquity.
In Africa, the ruling dynasty of Ethiopia claimed descent from King Solomon via the Queen of Sheba. Through this claim, the family traced their descent back to the aforementioned House of David.
The genealogy of Ancient Egyptian ruling dynasties was recorded from the beginnings of the Pharaonic era circa 3000 BC, to the end of the Ptolomaic Kingdom; although this is not a record of one continuously-linked family lineage, and surviving records are incomplete.
Elsewhere in Africa, oral traditions of genealogical recording predominate. Members of the Keita dynasty of Mali, for example, have had their pedigrees sung by griots during annual ceremonies since the 14th century. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, many ruling clans - most notably those descended from Oduduwa - claim descent from the legendary King Kisra. Here too, pedigrees are recited by griots attached to the royal courts.
In some pre-contact Native American civilizations, genealogical records of ruling and priestly families were kept, some of which extended over at least several centuries.
In many human cultures, clan and tribal associations are based on claims of common ancestry; although detailed documentation of those origins is often very limited.
Other uses
The author Pete Frame is notable for having produced "family trees" of rock bands.
In this instance, the entries represent membership of certain groups,
and personnel changes within them, rather than family relationships.
Several books have been produced with his family trees, which in turn have led to a BBC television series about them, including interviews from the bands depicted in the trees.
Genealogy (from Greek: γενεαλογίαgenealogia "the making of a pedigree") is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages.
Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis,
and other records to obtain information about a family and to
demonstrate kinship and pedigrees
of its members. The results are often displayed in charts or written as
narratives. Although generally used interchangeably, the traditional
definition of "genealogy" begins with a person who is usually deceased
and traces his or her descendants forward in time, whereas, "family
history" begins with a person who is usually living and traces his or
her ancestors. Both the National Genealogical Society in the United States and the Society of Genealogists in the United Kingdom
state that the word "genealogy" often refers to the scholarly
discipline of researching lineages and connecting generations, whereas
"family history" often refers to biographical studies of ones family,
including family narratives and traditions.
The pursuit of family history and origins tends to be shaped by
several motives, including the desire to carve out a place for one's
family in the larger historical picture, a sense of responsibility to
preserve the past for future generations, and self-satisfaction in
accurate storytelling. Genealogy research is also performed for scholarly or forensic purposes.
Overview
12 generations patrilineage of a Hindu Lingayat male from central Karnataka spanning over 275 years, depicted in descending order
Amateur genealogists typically pursue their own ancestry and that of
their spouses. Professional genealogists may also conduct research for
others, publish books on genealogical methods, teach, or produce their
own databases. They may work for companies that provide software or
produce materials of use to other professionals and to amateurs. Both
try to understand not just where and when people lived, but also their
lifestyles, biographies, and motivations. This often requires—or leads
to—knowledge of antiquated laws, old political boundaries, migration
trends, and historical socioeconomic or religious conditions.
Genealogists sometimes specialize in a particular group, e.g. a Scottish clan; a particular surname, such as in a one-name study; a small community, e.g. a single village or parish, such as in a one-place study; or a particular, often famous, person. Bloodlines of Salem
is an example of a specialized family-history group. It welcomes
members who can prove descent from a participant of the Salem Witch
Trials or who simply choose to support the group.
Genealogists and family historians often join family history societies,
where novices can learn from more experienced researchers. Such
societies generally serve a specific geographical area. Their members
may also index records to make them more accessible, and engage in
advocacy and other efforts to preserve public records and cemeteries.
Some schools engage students in such projects as a means to reinforce
lessons regarding immigration and history. Other benefits include family medical histories with families with serious medical conditions that are hereditary.
The terms "genealogy" and "family history" are often used synonymously, but some offer a slight difference in definition. The Society of Genealogists,
while also using the terms interchangeably, describes genealogy as the
"establishment of a Pedigree by extracting evidence, from valid sources,
of how one generation is connected to the next" and family history as
"a biographical study of a genealogically proven family and of the
community and country in which they lived".
Motivation
Individuals conduct genealogical research for a number of reasons.
Personal or medical interest
Private
individuals do genealogy out of curiosity about their heritage. This
curiosity can be particularly strong among those whose family histories
were lost or unknown due to, for example, adoption or separation from family through divorce, death, or other situations.
In addition to simply wanting to know more about who they are and where
they came from, individuals may research their genealogy to learn about
any hereditary diseases in their family history.
There is a growing interest in family history in the media as a
result of advertising and television shows sponsored by large genealogy
companies such as Ancestry.com. This coupled with easier access to online records and the affordability of DNA tests has both inspired curiosity and allowed those who are curious to easily start investigating their ancestry.
Community or religious obligation
In communitarian
societies, one's identity is defined as much by one's kin network as by
individual achievement, and the question "Who are you?" would be
answered by a description of father, mother, and tribe. New Zealand Māori, for example, learn whakapapa (genealogies) to discover who they are.
Family history plays a part in the practice of some religious belief systems. For example, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has a doctrine of baptism for the dead, which necessitates that members of that faith engage in family history research.
In East Asian countries that were historically shaped by Confucianism, many people follow a practice of ancestor worship as well as genealogical record-keeping. Ancestor's names are inscribed on tablets and placed in shrines, where rituals are performed. Genealogies are also recorded in genealogy books. This practice is rooted in the belief that respect for one's family is a foundation for a healthy society.
Establishing identity
Royal families, both historically and in modern times, keep records of their genealogies in order to establish their right to rule
and determine who will be the next sovereign. For centuries in various
cultures, ones genealogy has been a source of political and social
status.
Some countries and indigenous tribes allow individuals to obtain citizenship based on their genealogy. In Ireland,
for example, an individual can become a citizen if one of their
grandparents was born in Ireland, even if the individual or their
parents were not born there. In societies such as Australia or the
United States, there was by the 20th century growing pride in the
pioneers and nation-builders. Establishing descent from these was, and
is, important to lineage societies such as the Daughters of the American Revolution and The Mayflower Society.
Modern family history explores new sources of status, such as
celebrating the resilience of families that survived generations of
poverty or slavery, or the success of families in integrating across
racial or national boundaries. Some family histories even emphasize
links to celebrity criminals, such as the bushranger Ned Kelly in Australia.
Historians and geneticists
may do genealogical research to gain a greater understanding of
specific topics in their respective fields.
Professional genealogists conduct paid genealogical research for any of
the above individuals. They also publish their research in peer-reviewed
journals.
Historically, in Western societies the focus of genealogy was on the kinship and descent
of rulers and nobles, often arguing or demonstrating the legitimacy of
claims to wealth and power. The term often overlapped with heraldry, in which the ancestry of royalty was reflected in their coats of arms. Modern scholars consider many claimed noble ancestries to be fabrications, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that traced the ancestry of several English kings to the god Woden.
Some family trees have been maintained for considerable periods. The family tree of Confucius has been maintained for over 2,500 years and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest extant family tree. The fifth edition of the Confucius Genealogy was printed in 2009 by the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee (CGCC).
Modern times
In
modern times, genealogy became more widespread, with commoners as well
as nobility researching and maintaining their family trees. Genealogy received a boost in the late 1970s with the television broadcast of Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. His account of his family's descent from the African tribesman Kunta Kinte inspired many others to study their own lines.
With the advent of the Internet,
the number of resources readily accessible to genealogists has vastly
increased, resulting in an explosion of interest in the topic. Genealogy is one of the most popular topics on the Internet. The Internet has become not only a major source of data for genealogists, but also of education and communication.
Genealogical research in the United States was first systematized in the early 19th century, especially by John Farmer (1789–1838).
Before Farmer's efforts, tracing one's genealogy was seen as an attempt
by colonists to secure a measure of social standing within the British
Empire, an aim that was counter to the new republic's egalitarian,
future-oriented ethos.
As Fourth of July celebrations commemorating the Founding Fathers and
the heroes of the Revolutionary War became increasingly popular,
however, the pursuit of 'antiquarianism,' which focused on local
history, became acceptable as a way to honor the achievements of early
Americans.
Farmer capitalized on the acceptability of antiquarianism to frame
genealogy within the early republic's ideological framework of pride in
one's American ancestors. He corresponded with other antiquarians in New
England, where antiquarianism and genealogy were well established, and
became a coordinator, booster, and contributor to the growing movement.
In the 1820s, he and fellow antiquarians began to produce genealogical
and antiquarian tracts in earnest, slowly gaining a devoted audience
among the American people. Though Farmer died in 1839, his efforts led
to the creation of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), one of New England's oldest and most prominent organizations dedicated to the preservation of public records. NEHGS publishes the New England Historical and Genealogical Register.
The Genealogical Society of Utah, founded in 1894, later became the Family History Department of the LDS Church. The department's research facility, the Family History Library, which Utah.com states is "the largest genealogical library in the world,"
was established to assist in tracing family lineages for special
religious ceremonies which Latter-day Saints believe will seal family
units together for eternity. Latter-day Saints believe that this
fulfilled a biblical prophecy stating that the prophet Elijah would return to "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." There is a network of church-operated Family History Centers all over the country and around the world, where volunteers assist the public with tracing their ancestors. Brigham Young University
offers bachelor's degree, minor, and concentration programs in Family
History, and is the only school in North America to offer this.
The American Society of Genealogists
is the scholarly honorary society of the U.S. genealogical field.
Founded by John Insley Coddington, Arthur Adams, and Meredith B. Colket,
Jr., in December 1940, its membership is limited to 50 living fellows.
ASG publishes The Genealogist, a scholarly journal of genealogical research semi-annually since 1980. Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, who bear the post-nominal acronym FASG, have written some of the most notable genealogical materials of the last half-century.
Genealogical
research is a complex process that uses historical records and
sometimes genetic analysis to demonstrate kinship. Reliable conclusions
are based on the quality of sources, ideally original records, the
information within those sources, ideally primary or firsthand
information, and the evidence that can be drawn, directly or indirectly,
from that information. In many instances, genealogists must skillfully
assemble indirect or circumstantial evidence
to build a case for identity and kinship. All evidence and conclusions,
together with the documentation that supports them, is then assembled
to create a cohesive genealogy or family history.
Genealogists begin their research by collecting family documents and stories. This creates a foundation for documentary research,
which involves examining and evaluating historical records for evidence
about ancestors and other relatives, their kinship ties, and the events
that occurred in their lives. As a rule, genealogists begin with the
present and work backward in time. Historical, social, and family
context is essential to achieving correct identification of individuals
and relationships. Source citation is also important when conducting
genealogical research. To keep track of collected material, family group sheets and pedigree charts are used. Formerly handwritten, these can now be generated by genealogical software.
Genetic analysis
Variations of VNTR allele lengths in 6 individuals
Because a person's DNA contains information that has been passed down relatively unchanged from early ancestors, analysis of DNA is sometimes used for genealogical research. Three DNA types are of particular interest: mitochondrial DNA that we all possess and that is passed down with only minor mutations through the matrilineal (direct female) line; the Y-chromosome, present only in males, which is passed down with only minor mutations through the patrilineal (direct male) line; and the Autosomal DNA,
which is found in the 22 non-gender specific chromosomes (autosomes)
inherited from both parents, which can uncover relatives from any branch
of the family. A genealogical DNA test
allows two individuals to find the probability that they are, or are
not, related within an estimated number of generations. Individual genetic test results are collected in databases to match people descended from a relatively recent common ancestor. See, for example, the Molecular Genealogy Research Project. These tests are limited to either the patrilineal or the matrilineal line.
Collaboration
Most genealogy software programs can export information about persons and their relationships in a standardized format called GEDCOM. In that format it can be shared with other genealogists, added to databases, or converted into family web sites. Social networking service
(SNS) websites allow genealogists to share data and build their family
trees online. Members can upload their family trees and contact other
family historians to fill in gaps in their research. In addition to the
(SNS) websites, there are other resources that encourage genealogists
to connect and share information such as rootsweb.ancestry.com and rsl.rootsweb.ancestry.com.
Volunteerism
Volunteer efforts figure prominently in genealogy. These range from the extremely informal to the highly organized.
On the informal side are the many popular and useful message boards such as Rootschat and mailing lists
on particular surnames, regions, and other topics. These forums can be
used to try to find relatives, request record lookups, obtain research
advice, and much more. Many genealogists participate in loosely
organized projects, both online and off. These collaborations take
numerous forms. Some projects prepare name indexes for records, such as probate cases, and publish the indexes, either online or off. These indexes can be used as finding aids
to locate original records. Other projects transcribe or abstract
records. Offering record lookups for particular geographic areas is
another common service. Volunteers do record lookups or take photos in
their home areas for researchers who are unable to travel.
Those looking for a structured volunteer environment can join one of thousands of genealogical societies worldwide. Most societies have a unique area of focus, such as a particular surname, ethnicity, geographic area, or descendancy from participants in a given historical event.
Genealogical societies are almost exclusively staffed by volunteers and
may offer a broad range of services, including maintaining libraries
for members' use, publishing newsletters, providing research assistance
to the public, offering classes or seminars, and organizing record
preservation or transcription projects.
Genealogy software
is used to collect, store, sort, and display genealogical data. At a
minimum, genealogy software accommodates basic information about
individuals, including births, marriages, and deaths. Many programs
allow for additional biographical information, including occupation,
residence, and notes, and most also offer a method for keeping track of
the sources for each piece of evidence.
Most programs can generate basic kinship charts and reports, allow for
the import of digital photographs and the export of data in the GEDCOM
format (short for GEnealogical Data COMmunication) so that data can be
shared with those using other genealogy software. More advanced features
include the ability to restrict the information that is shared, usually
by removing information about living people out of privacy
concerns; the import of sound files; the generation of family history
books, web pages and other publications; the ability to handle same-sex marriages
and children born out of wedlock; searching the Internet for data; and
the provision of research guidance. Programs may be geared toward a
specific religion, with fields relevant to that religion, or to specific
nationalities or ethnic groups, with source types relevant for those
groups. Online resources involve complex programming and large data
bases, such as censuses.
Records and documentation
A family history page from an antebellum era family Bible
Genealogists use a wide variety of records in their research. To
effectively conduct genealogical research, it is important to understand
how the records were created, what information is included in them, and
how and where to access them.
List of record types
Records that are used in genealogy research include:
To keep track of their citizens, governments began keeping records of persons who were neither royalty nor nobility. In England and Germany, for example, such record keeping started with parish registers in the 16th century.
As more of the population was recorded, there were sufficient records
to follow a family. Major life events, such as births, marriages, and
deaths, were often documented with a license, permit, or report.
Genealogists locate these records in local, regional or national offices
or archives and extract information about family relationships and recreate timelines of persons' lives.
In China, India and other Asian countries, genealogy books
are used to record the names, occupations, and other information about
family members, with some books dating back hundreds or even thousands
of years. In the eastern Indian state of Bihar, there is a written tradition of genealogical records among Maithil Brahmins and Karna Kayasthas called "Panjis", dating to the 12th century CE. Even today these records are consulted prior to marriages.
The
Family History Library, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints, is the world's largest library dedicated to
genealogical research.
The LDS Church has engaged in large-scale microfilming of records of
genealogical value. Its Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah,
houses over 2 million microfiche and microfilms of genealogically
relevant material, which are also available for on-site research at over
4500 Family History Centers worldwide.
FamilySearch's website includes many resources for genealogists: a FamilyTree database, historical records, digitized family history books, resources and indexing for African American genealogy such as slave and bank records, and a Family History Research Wiki containing research guidance articles.
Indexing ancestral Information
Indexing
is the process of transcribing parish records, city vital records, and
other reports, to a digital database for searching. Volunteers and
professionals participate in the indexing process. Since 2006, the
microfilm in the FamilySearch granite mountain vault is in the process
of being digitally scanned, available online, and eventually indexed.
For example, after the 72-year legal limit for releasing personal information for the United States Census was reached in 2012, genealogical groups cooperated to index the 132 million residents registered in the 1940 United States Census.
Between 2006 and 2012, the FamilySearch indexing effort produced more than 1 billion searchable records.
Record loss and preservation
Sometimes
genealogical records are destroyed, whether accidentally or on purpose.
In order to do thorough research, genealogists keep track of which
records have been destroyed so they know when information they need may
be missing. Of particular note for North American genealogy is the 1890 United States Census,
which was destroyed in a fire in 1921. Although fragments survive, most
of the 1890 census no longer exists. Those looking for genealogical
information for families that lived in the United States in 1890 must
rely on other information to fill that gap.
War is another cause of record destruction. During World War II, many European records were destroyed. Communists in China during the Cultural Revolution and in Korea during the Korean War destroyed genealogy books kept by families.
Often records are destroyed due to accident or neglect. Since
genealogical records are often kept on paper and stacked in high-density
storage, they are prone to fire, mold, insect damage, and eventual
disintegration. Sometimes records of genealogical value are deliberately
destroyed by governments or organizations because the records are
considered to be unimportant or a privacy risk. Because of this,
genealogists often organize efforts to preserve records that are at risk
of destruction. FamilySearch
has an ongoing program that assesses what useful genealogical records
have the most risk of being destroyed, and sends volunteers to digitize
such records. In 2017, the government of Sierra Leone
asked FamilySearch for help preserving their rapidly deteriorating
vital records. FamilySearch has begun digitizing the records and making
them available online. The Federation of Genealogical Societies also organized an effort to preserve and digitize United States War of 1812
pension records. In 2010, they began raising funds, which were
contribute by genealogists around the United States and matched by Ancestry.com.
Their goal was achieved and the process of digitization was able to
begin. The digitized records are available for free online.
Types of information
Genealogists
who seek to reconstruct the lives of each ancestor consider all
historical information to be "genealogical" information. Traditionally,
the basic information needed to ensure correct identification of each
person are place names, occupations, family names,
first names, and dates. However, modern genealogists greatly expand
this list, recognizing the need to place this information in its
historical context in order to properly evaluate genealogical evidence
and distinguish between same-name individuals. A great deal of
information is available for British ancestry with growing resources for other ethnic groups.
Family names
Lineage of a family, c1809
Family names are simultaneously one of the most important pieces of
genealogical information, and a source of significant confusion for
researchers.
In many cultures, the name of a person refers to the family to which he or she belongs. This is called the family name, surname, or last name. Patronymics
are names that identify an individual based on the father's name. For
example, Marga Olafsdottir is Marga, daughter of Olaf, and Olaf Thorsson
is Olaf, son of Thor. Many cultures used patronymics before surnames
were adopted or came into use. The Dutch in New York, for example, used
the patronymic system of names until 1687 when the advent of English
rule mandated surname usage. In Iceland, patronymics are used by a majority of the population.
In Denmark and Norway patronymics and farm names were generally in use
through the 19th century and beyond, though surnames began to come into
fashion toward the end of the 19th century in some parts of the country.
Not until 1856 in Denmark and 1923 in Norway were there laws requiring surnames.
The transmission of names across generations, marriages and other
relationships, and immigration may cause difficulty in genealogical
research. For instance, women in many cultures have routinely used their
spouse's surnames. When a woman remarried, she may have changed her
name and the names of her children; only her name; or changed no names.
Her birth name (maiden name) may be reflected in her children's middle names; her own middle name; or dropped entirely.
Children may sometimes assume stepparent, foster parent, or adoptive
parent names. Because official records may reflect many kinds of surname
change, without explaining the underlying reason for the change, the
correct identification of a person recorded identified with more than
one name is challenging. Immigrants to America often Americanized their
names.
Surname data may be found in trade directories, census returns, birth, death, and marriage records.
Given names
Genealogical data regarding given names (first names) is subject to many of the same problems as are family names and place names. Additionally, the use of nicknames
is very common. For example, Beth, Lizzie or Betty are all common for
Elizabeth, and Jack, John and Jonathan may be interchanged.
Middle names provide additional information. Middle names may be
inherited, follow naming customs, or be treated as part of the family
name. For instance, in some Latin cultures, both the mother's family
name and the father's family name are used by the children.
Historically, naming traditions existed in some places and
cultures. Even in areas that tended to use naming conventions, however,
they were by no means universal. Families may have used them some of the
time, among some of their children, or not at all. A pattern might also
be broken to name a newborn after a recently deceased sibling, aunt or
uncle.
An example of a naming tradition from England, Scotland and Ireland:
Child
Namesake
1st son
paternal grandfather
2nd son
maternal grandfather
3rd son
father
4th son
father's oldest brother
1st daughter
maternal grandmother
2nd daughter
paternal grandmother
3rd daughter
mother
4th daughter
mother's oldest sister
Another example is in some areas of Germany, where siblings were
given the same first name, often of a favourite saint or local nobility,
but different second names by which they were known (Rufname).
If a child died, the next child of the same gender that was born may
have been given the same name. It is not uncommon that a list of a
particular couple's children will show one or two names repeated.
Personal names have periods of popularity, so it is not uncommon
to find many similarly named people in a generation, and even similarly
named families; e.g., "William and Mary and their children David, Mary,
and John".
Many names may be identified strongly with a particular gender; e.g., William for boys, and Mary for girls. Others may be ambiguous, e.g., Lee, or have only slightly variant spellings based on gender, e.g., Frances (usually female) and Francis (usually male).
Place names
While
the locations of ancestors' residences and life events are core
elements of the genealogist's quest, they can often be confusing. Place
names may be subject to variant spellings by partially literate scribes.
Locations may have identical or very similar names. For example, the
village name Brockton occurs six times in the border area between the English counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire.
Shifts in political borders must also be understood. Parish, county,
and national borders have frequently been modified. Old records may
contain references to farms and villages that have ceased to exist. When
working with older records from Poland, where borders and place names
have changed frequently in past centuries, a source with maps and sample
records such as A Translation Guide to 19th-Century Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents can be invaluable.
Available sources may include vital records (civil or church
registration), censuses, and tax assessments. Oral tradition is also an
important source, although it must be used with caution. When no source
information is available for a location, circumstantial evidence may
provide a probable answer based on a person's or a family's place of
residence at the time of the event.
Maps and gazetteers are important sources for understanding the
places researched. They show the relationship of an area to neighboring
communities and may be of help in understanding migration patterns. Family tree mapping using online mapping tools such as Google Earth (particularly when used with Historical Map overlays such as those from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection) assist in the process of understanding the significance of geographical locations.
Dates
It is wise
to exercise extreme caution with dates. Dates are more difficult to
recall years after an event, and are more easily mistranscribed than
other types of genealogical data.
Therefore, one should determine whether the date was recorded at the
time of the event or at a later date. Dates of birth in vital records or
civil registrations and in church records at baptism are generally
accurate because they were usually recorded near the time of the event.
Family Bibles are often a source for dates, but can be written from
memory long after the event. When the same ink and handwriting is used
for all entries, the dates were probably written at the same time and
therefore will be less reliable since the earlier dates were probably
recorded well after the event. The publication date of the Bible also
provides a clue about when the dates were recorded since they could not
have been recorded at any earlier date.
People sometimes reduce their age on marriage, and those under
"full age" may increase their age in order to marry or to join the armed
forces. Census returns are notoriously unreliable for ages or for assuming an approximate death date. Ages over 15 in the 1841 census in the UK are rounded down to the next lower multiple of five years.
Although baptismal dates are often used to approximate birth
dates, some families waited years before baptizing children, and adult
baptisms are the norm in some religions. Both birth and marriage dates
may have been adjusted to cover for pre-wedding pregnancies.
Calendar changes must also be considered. In 1752, England and her American colonies changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. In the same year, the date the new year began was changed. Prior to 1752 it was 25 March;
this was changed to 1 January. Many other European countries had
already made the calendar changes before England had, sometimes
centuries earlier. By 1751 there was an 11-day discrepancy between the
date in England and the date in other European countries.
The French Republican Calendar
or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar proposed during the
French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years
from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days in 1871 in Paris. Dates in
official records at this time use the revolutionary calendar and need
"translating" into the Gregorian calendar for calculating ages etc.
There are various websites which do this.
Occupations
Occupational
information may be important to understanding an ancestor's life and
for distinguishing two people with the same name. A person's occupation
may have been related to his or her social status, political interest,
and migration pattern. Since skilled trades are often passed from father
to son, occupation may also be indirect evidence of a family
relationship.
It is important to remember that a person may change occupations,
and that titles change over time as well. Some workers no longer fit
for their primary trade often took less prestigious jobs later in life,
while others moved upwards in prestige.
Many unskilled ancestors had a variety of jobs depending on the season
and local trade requirements. Census returns may contain some
embellishment; e.g., from labourer to mason, or from journeyman to master craftsman.
Names for old or unfamiliar local occupations may cause confusion if
poorly legible. For example, an ostler (a keeper of horses) and a
hostler (an innkeeper) could easily be confused for one another.
Likewise, descriptions of such occupations may also be problematic. The
perplexing description "ironer of rabbit burrows" may turn out to
describe an ironer (profession) in the Bristol
district named Rabbit Burrows. Several trades have regionally preferred
terms. For example, "shoemaker" and "cordwainer" have the same meaning.
Finally, many apparently obscure jobs are part of a larger trade
community, such as watchmaking, framework knitting or gunmaking.
Occupational data may be reported in occupational licenses, tax
assessments, membership records of professional organizations, trade
directories, census returns, and vital records (civil registration).
Occupational dictionaries are available to explain many obscure and
archaic trades.
Reliability of sources
Information
found in historical or genealogical sources can be unreliable and it is
good practice to evaluate all sources with a critical eye. Factors
influencing the reliability of genealogical information include: the
knowledge of the informant (or writer); the bias and mental state of the
informant (or write; the passage of time and the potential for copying
and compiling errors.
The quality of census data has been of special interest to historians, who have investigated reliability issues.
Knowledge of the informant
The
informant is the individual who provided the recorded information.
Genealogists must carefully consider who provided the information and
what he or she knew. In many cases the informant is identified in the
record itself. For example, a death certificate usually has two
informants: a physician who provides information about the time and
cause of death and a family member who provides the birth date, names of
parents, etc.
When the informant is not identified, one can sometimes deduce
information about the identity of the person by careful examination of
the source. One should first consider who was alive (and nearby) when
the record was created. When the informant is also the person recording
the information, the handwriting can be compared to other handwriting
samples.
When a source does not provide clues about the informant,
genealogists should treat the source with caution. These sources can be
useful if they can be compared with independent sources. For example, a
census record by itself cannot be given much weight because the
informant is unknown. However, when censuses for several years concur on
a piece of information that would not likely be guessed by a neighbor,
it is likely that the information in these censuses was provided by a
family member or other informed person. On the other hand, information
in a single census cannot be confirmed by information in an undocumented
compiled genealogy since the genealogy may have used the census record
as its source and might therefore be dependent on the same misinformed
individual.
Motivation of the informant
Even
individuals who had knowledge of the fact, sometimes intentionally or
unintentionally provided false or misleading information. A person may
have lied in order to obtain a government benefit (such as a military
pension), avoid taxation, or cover up an embarrassing situation (such as
the existence of a non-marital child). A person with a distressed state
of mind may not be able to accurately recall information. Many
genealogical records were recorded at the time of a loved one's death,
and so genealogists should consider the effect that grief may have had
on the informant of these records.
The effect of time
The
passage of time often affects a person's ability to recall information.
Therefore, as a general rule, data recorded soon after the event are
usually more reliable than data recorded many years later. However, some
types of data are more difficult to recall after many years than
others. One type especially prone to recollection errors is dates. Also
the ability to recall is affected by the significance that the event had
to the individual. These values may have been affected by cultural or
individual preferences.
Copying and compiling errors
Genealogists
must consider the effects that copying and compiling errors may have
had on the information in a source. For this reason, sources are
generally categorized in two categories: original and derivative. An
original source is one that is not based on another source. A derivative
source is information taken from another source. This distinction is
important because each time a source is copied, information about the
record may be lost and errors may result from the copyist misreading,
mistyping, or miswriting the information. Genealogists should consider
the number of times information has been copied and the types of
derivation a piece of information has undergone. The types of
derivatives include: photocopies, transcriptions, abstracts,
translations, extractions, and compilations.
In addition to copying errors, compiled sources (such as
published genealogies and online pedigree databases) are susceptible to
misidentification errors and incorrect conclusions based on
circumstantial evidence. Identity errors usually occur when two or more
individuals are assumed to be the same person. Circumstantial or
indirect evidence does not explicitly answer a genealogical question,
but either may be used with other sources to answer the question,
suggest a probable answer, or eliminate certain possibilities. Compilers
sometimes draw hasty conclusions from circumstantial evidence without
sufficiently examining all available sources, without properly
understanding the evidence, and without appropriately indicating the
level of uncertainty.
Primary and secondary sources
In
genealogical research, information can be obtained from primary or
secondary sources. Primary sources are records that were made at the
time of the event, for example a death certificate would be a primary
source for a person's death date and place. Secondary sources are
records that are made days, weeks, months, or even years after an event.
Standards and Ethics
Organizations
that educate and certify genealogists have established standards and
ethical guidelines they instruct genealogists to follow.
Research standards
Genealogy
research requires analyzing documents and drawing conclusions based on
the evidence provided in the available documents. Genealogists need
standards to determine whether or not their evaluation of the evidence
is accurate. In the past, genealogists in the United States borrowed terms from judicial law
to examine evidence found in documents and how they relate to the
researcher's conclusions. However, the differences between the two
disciplines created a need for genealogists to develop their own
standards. In 2000, the Board for Certification of Genealogists published their first manual of standards. The Genealogical Proof Standard
created by the Board for Certification of Genealogists is widely
distributed in seminars, workshops, and educational materials for
genealogists in the United States. Other genealogical organizations
around the world have created similar standards they invite genealogists
to follow. Such standards provide guidelines for genealogists to
evaluate their own research as well as the research of others.
Standards for genealogical research include:
Clearly document and organize findings.
Cite all sources in a specific manner so that others can locate them and properly evaluate them.
Locate all available sources that may contain information relevant to the research question.
Analyze findings thoroughly, without ignoring conflicts in records or negative evidence.
Rely on original, rather than derivative sources, wherever possible.
Use logical reasoning based on reliable sources to reach conclusions.
Acknowledge when a specific conclusion is only "possible" or "probable" rather than "proven."
Acknowledge that other records that have not yet been discovered may overturn a conclusion.
Ethical guidelines
Genealogists
often handle sensitive information and share and publish such
information. Because of this, there is a need for ethical standards and
boundaries for when information is too sensitive to be published.
Historically, some genealogists have fabricated information or have
otherwise been untrustworthy. Genealogical organizations around the
world have outlined ethical standards as an attempt to eliminate such
problems. Ethical standards adopted by various genealogical
organizations include:
Respect copyright laws
Acknowledge where one consulted another's work and do not plagiarize the work of other researchers.
Treat original records with respect and avoid causing damage to them or removing them from repositories.
Treat archives and archive staff with respect.
Protect the privacy of living individuals by not publishing or
otherwise disclosing information about them without their permission.
Disclose any conflicts of interest to clients.
When doing paid research, be clear with the client about scope of research and fees involved.
Do not fabricate information or publish false or unproven information as proven.
Be sensitive about information found through genealogical research that may make the client or family members uncomfortable.
In 2015, a committee presented standards for genetic genealogy
at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. The standards emphasize that
genealogists and testing companies should respect the privacy of clients
and recognize the limits of DNA tests. It also discusses how
genealogists should thoroughly document conclusions made using DNA
evidence.
In 2019, the Board for the Certification of Genealogists officially
updated their standards and code of ethics to include standards for
genetic genealogy.
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