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In most one-name studies, a united lineage will not be discovered, but broad perspectives can be achieved, giving clues to name origins and migrations. Many researchers are motivated to go beyond the one-name-study stage and to compile fully researched, single-family histories of some of the families
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While most one-name studies are conducted as a pastime, rather than as an economic activity, the sheer volume of information to be organised may require semi-professional data-processing and publishing skills. To avoid retyping large volumes of data by hand, one-name researchers are often skilled at
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Accessibility of the data required for a one-name study varies from country to country. Where civil registration indexes are open to public search, they may not be online or gathered in the national capital, but are scattered through the states, as in
Australia, or towns, as in France and the United
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A full one-name study can be daunting, particularly if the surname is very common. Conversely, a rare surname can be difficult to trace. Since such studies are usually conducted by individuals as a pastime, they are generally feasible only when a surname is not used by more than a couple of thousand
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have taken place in
England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland since the 1800s. The Irish Census returns for the years 1841 to 1891 are not available having been destroyed. Otherwise information from the 10-yearly censuses from 1841 until 1911 is available and facilitates the linking of surname data into
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was established in the United
Kingdom in September 1979, and maintains a register of surnames being researched by members. It is a channel for anyone wishing to contact the person researching a particular registered name. In 2014 the Guild had over 2,000 world-wide members conducting studies of
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Many one-name researchers keep data tables in computer spreadsheets because it is possible to see hundreds of items on a single screen and use thinking power to detect patterns. Genealogy software is used by many researchers to collate and define family trees. Others employ
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contemporary people, so that the total historical data-set is numbered in the low tens of thousands. Where a surname is used by hundreds of thousands, or millions of people, it would be practically impossible to differentiate these persons using national-index data alone.
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and automated reformatting. The data must be carefully structured. An accurate copy of the original indexes must be drawn up, and updated when they are amended. Errors and conflicts in the indexes are noted. Links to those tables appear in the roll of individual persons.
381:(from 1865 and Protestant marriages from 1845) are in the public domain, and anyone may apply to see the details of any birth, marriage or death. For the period before civil registration, in principle back to 1538 in England and Wales and 1533 in Scotland,
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Since it is possible to extract a complete data-set of a given surname from these public records, ancestries of most 20th-century persons with a particular surname in
England and Wales can be compiled without needing any contact to the persons concerned.
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of one person or couple). Some people who research a specific surname may restrict their research geographically and chronologically, perhaps to one country and time period, while others may collect all occurrences world-wide for all time.
354:, archival catalogues, patent databases, reports of law cases, tax lists, newspaper indexes and web searches. A one-name researcher may also report on the linguistic origins of the surname and its use in place names and corporate names.
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can be searched at the pay-per-view web site
ScotlandsPeople, and this means that a one-name study with a British focus can be conducted from anywhere in the world. Civil registration indexes for Northern Ireland can be viewed at the
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States. In many countries, such as
Germany, civil registration and census data are regarded as a state prerogative: vital data are only available to the persons concerned and 19th-century census returns are not available at all.
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will give them sufficient perspective to break through a barrier in their own family history research. Some are motivated by the belief, only rarely borne out, that kinship can be documented among all persons sharing a surname.
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may represent religious practice rather than an ancestry. Since a majority of human societies use patronymic surnames, one-name studies generally focus on male succession and ignore family relationships through marriage.
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has many members who are associated with such organisations. Advice on setting up a one-name group appears in a short booklet, "One-Name Family
History Groups" by Derek Palgrave published by the Halsted Trust in 2008.
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have recorded birth and/or baptisms, marriages and deaths and/or burials. These are also freely available, although the survival of such registers is less likely as we reach back to the earliest dates of this period.
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Traditionally, publication of definitive research is undertaken by printing a book or by publishing a one-name periodical. Such publications are often sponsored by formally established one-name groups. The UK-based
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One-name studies in the United States have become more feasible than they were, thanks to the increased availability of online indexes to 19th-century and early-20th-century censuses.
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Some researchers are satisfied to collect all information and group it geographically, approximately representing the different family groups. Others attempt to reconstruct lineages.
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Many people conducting family history, genealogical or onomastic research may conduct a one-name study of a surname in a given period or locality quite informally.
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A one-name study is not limited to persons who are related biologically. Studies may have a number of family trees which have no link with each other.
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In some cultures, one-name studies are impossible, since hereditary surnames are not used at all or in the case of names such as
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which enables a members to both share and publish their study as a website whilst continuing to work on their study.
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Today many studies are presented online, since the data can be continually updated and made available worldwide.
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to analyse relationships among different lineages bearing the same surname (or suspected spelling variants).
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A number of Guild of One-Name
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were scanned and made available online in 2004 by the subscription web site
Findmypast (formerly
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One-name studies are generally rounded out with a miscellany of information drawn from
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More limited one-name studies can be conducted using other national indexes including:
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One-name researchers often begin a study in the hope that obtaining a massive
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484:includes several One-Name Societies, whilst the
587:, Oxford: How To Books Ltd., pp. 20–22,
269:Findings from a one-name study are useful to
521:"DNA Testing – What you need to know first"
365:indexes of births, marriages and deaths in
53:Learn how and when to remove these messages
404:General Register Office (Northern Ireland)
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230:Learn how and when to remove this message
212:Learn how and when to remove this message
150:Learn how and when to remove this message
471:individual surnames and their variants.
406:(GRONI) on payment of an entrance fee.
389:The civil registration index books for
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482:Federation of Family History Societies
653:"Guild of One-name Studies: Register"
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519:Carpenter, John R. (23 May 2017).
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343:land possession records
330:and address directories
514:Extinction of surnames
454:Motivation and support
581:Adler, Harry (2002),
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444:Surname DNA projects
84:improve this article
742:The Surname Society
509:Surname DNA project
437:relational database
337:or deceased estates
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82:Please help
77:verification
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36:Please help
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475:Publication
358:UK surnames
260:descendants
751:Categories
719:2018-03-14
605:2020-12-20
567:2014-02-20
543:References
439:software.
395:1837online
186:improve it
110:newspapers
39:improve it
757:Genealogy
533:August 5,
328:telephone
279:etymology
256:ancestors
190:verifying
140:June 2012
45:talk page
762:Surnames
713:Archived
689:13 March
683:Archived
663:13 March
657:Archived
631:Archived
599:archived
561:Archived
503:See also
460:data set
446:, using
428:scraping
410:Censuses
399:Scotland
375:Scotland
252:pedigree
202:May 2012
367:England
312:Methods
248:surname
184:Please
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627:Stoke
524:(PDF)
426:data
421:Tools
371:Wales
335:wills
298:Singh
285:Scope
131:JSTOR
117:books
691:2015
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589:ISBN
535:2019
466:The
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103:news
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