Recently I have been browsing diligently for my other half’s German forefathers and I’ve encountered that age-old genealogy problem– how do I distinguish between 2 unassociated people who have the exact same name, similar ages and live near each other? Or 2 people from the very same household with the same name?

If you have actually been tracing your family tree for any amount of time, you have actually probably encountered this issue and it can be extremely confusing– leading many down the wrong path in their research study.

Provided how all of a sudden typical it is for individuals to share names, how can identity mistakes be prevented? Here’s the system I use.
Begin by doing some fast searches to see if you can identify whether or not it is most likely that others may share your forefather’s name and/or fundamental information (such as birth and death years) in the place( s) where they lived. You can use FamilySearch for this function, or any other genealogy research study website you are used to utilizing. Type in your ancestor’s name and basic information and see what emerges.

Ask yourself these concerns:

Exist any other people with the exact same name or comparable names?
Do any of them share similar birth dates (with 10 years) or other essential information?
Did they live in the same town or county or neighboring areas?
You need to repeat this search in any specific collection or database you are utilizing.

If you come across others with comparable names and/or facts that might posture any confusion in your searches then it’s time to get organized. Let’s call this your forefather fact sheet.

Information that need to be on your ancestor reality sheet:
Full name, consisting of all middle names, wed names and nicknames, along with major spelling variations
Precise dates and areas of birth, marital relationship and death, along with other significant life occasions as you experience them
Specific areas lived during every census year and members of the family during that time period
Occupations held, years and places
Places and years when all children were born
Complete names and standard dates (birth/death) for partners, parents and siblings
Names of witnesses discovered on other records
Spiritual information
Anything else that you feel might assist you differentiate your ancestor from another person
As discussed above, you’ll wish to be extremely clear in this fact sheet, using complete names and precise dates and areas. This will help you distinguish between your relative and any similarly called individuals progressing. Consist of all of the details you currently have and contribute to this fact sheet as you research.

If you find individuals so similar that they feel like a “twin” to your ancestor, you will likewise wish to create a reduced fact sheet for that person. This can make the task of sorting records even easier.

I have actually discovered this forefather’s church baptism record from early 1784 in Robakau, Kreis Neustadt, West Prussia. I likewise have Emmanuel Meydam’s death record from 1856 in a small town near Putzig, Kreis Putzig, West Prussia.
While browsing, I also found a record pertaining to a government position granted to an Emmanuel Meydam in 1840. Could this record have to do with Emmanuel, my partner’s forefather? It sure seemed to fit– however I couldn’t make certain.

Upon additional research study I found records for an Emmanuel Meydam that resided in the very same location and had a birth date of 1794. Was this my Emmanuel with an incorrectly tape-recorded birth year (1794 instead of 1784) or was it another person totally? Plainly, I needed to be cautious.

To make the task of who’s who simpler I produced the fact sheet for my ancestor that consisted of all of Emmanuel’s information, including his complete name, dates, locations lived, and the names of all of his known partners, siblings, moms and dads and children.

Once I had this convenient reference ready I might utilize it to really carefully compare birth, baptism, marriage and death truths, along with known locations and loved ones, on every record I experienced. I likewise made note of the potential 2nd Emmanuel and his birth date.

When creating your own truth sheet, hang around locating your ancestor’s precise day, month and year of birth, death or marital relationship and record that if you can.

Be specific when you compose down areas. Understanding the place where your forefather lived will not typically assist you to tell the difference in between individuals with the same name, as often towns had 2 or more people, all related to each other, and all with the same name. When you combine details about the precise area with the other details you have you can use those information to help sort people out. Find out details about the history, location, and cultural elements (here’s how to do it). All of these can provide you ideas.
And don’t forget to use complete names for all associated people. You can match the names and dates for close relatives to the records to determine which one is your ancestor. If you know the names of a person’s moms and dads, spouse, or children, you can utilize these to help you discover clues in the records. It’s a great tip not to get stuck in the direct-line trap.

When I carried out additional research on the possible second Emmanuel Meydam discussed above, and born in 1794, I discovered that his complete name was really Johann Gottlieb Emmanuel Meydam and his parents were Michael Meydam and Christina Litzau. This does not match the records I have for my partner’s ancestor. In fact I found proof that this Emmanuel Meydam was a cousin to “my” Emmanuel. This is the ideal example of how easily mix-ups can occur.

My occupational record from 1840 (pointed out above) names Emmanuel Meydam to an administrative federal government position in Heubude, which was a district that was located on the coast of the Baltic Sea close to the city of Danzig. (This area is now a part of Gdansk, Poland.) I discovered records pertaining to Johann Gottlieb Emmanuel Meydam as residing in this location, as well as records for his boy and grand son. His child and grandson also held administrative federal government positions in the exact same area.

I discovered no records for my husband’s forefather Emmanuel Meydam in this part of Danzig. For that reason, I had the ability to reasonably conclude that the record from 1840 came from Johann Gottlieb Emmanuel Meydam, not my other half’s ancestor Emmanuel Meydam. Secret solved!

Just as I did, don’t forget to think about all of your data together. A shared name and birth year, for example, is not proof that a record matches your ancestor (instead of someone else). Make certain that you can match a number of details from your truth sheet, or that you have other solid proof to support the addition of a record to your tree.

By attending to these details and following the process given in this example, you will be able to overcome the records to determine who is who when dealing with individuals who have the exact same name in your own research study. This procedure can likewise be adjusted to help you avoid mix-ups within families, considering that numerous children can share similar names (especially when considering patronymics and matronymics).

For more help, consider an online course from Family History Daily where this process is taken a look at in even more detail as part of the Breaking Down Brick Walls area. You’ll also discover 100+ additional lessons for enhancing your household history research study.