Category Archives: Introduction to One-Name Studies (Pharos course 901)

One of the Guild commitments expected of study registrants is to respond to all enquires received. In fact study holders like nothing more than talking about their study and sharing the gems they have discovered. They too, welcome submissions to … Continue reading →

One of the elements of drawing conclusions is understanding the meaning of the surname. Surname are typically formed from the following, withe those in bold the most common: Patronymic – based on the given name of a male ancestor and … Continue reading →

Having downloaded and acquired data you need to do something with it. Not every member of the Guild does family reconstruction, and that might depend on the size of your study and your personal preference. Personally I do reconstruct families … Continue reading →

Any One-Name and surname research project will involve the collection of material, what I refer to as raw data. Regardless of where your surname originated from or where you reside, to undertake a One-Name Study and register this with the … Continue reading →

Undertaking a One-Name Study and surname research should be fun, so it is worth taking time to think about the way forward. It doesn’t matter if you change systems, I did three times before I proceeded with what I have … Continue reading →

Last week, when I launched this One-Name Studies and surname research series I mentioned the website Surname Profiler and included the map which detailed the occurrences relating to the surname of Orlando. As I was writing that post, which you can … Continue reading →

Surname distribution maps add a new and different dimension to a One-Name study. A surname may well have it’s origins in one Country, and a map can provide an interesting insight to how migration can influence the geographic spread of … Continue reading →

As the image here might suggest, you are going to need to think and write notes relating to the size of your potential One-Name Study, it is nothing complicated, I promise! Not all surnames are equal and understanding the frequency … Continue reading →

As any genealogist or family historian will tell you there are always more questions than answers and always a burning obsession to find out more, even if the odds are against a successful search. There are a variety of reasons … Continue reading →

The Guild of One-Name Studies advocate the Seven Steps of a One-Name Study. These are effectively the stages of surname research and the it is not necessary to move through the steps in the order they are displayed here.  It … Continue reading →