If you can’t find your relative in a database, consider switching the first and last names. These kinds of errors are not all that unusual, particularly with individuals with non-English names.

———————

Genealogy Tip of the Day is sponsored by GenealogyBanksearch for your ancestors in their newspaper collection.

Categories:

Tags:

2 Responses

  1. This still happens now. Frequently my hotel reservations are held under my given name. Once I listened as a motel employee told a caller that they had no reservation for her even though she had the correct address. I suggested that he ask her first name. It was one that could be reversed and, yes, they had the reservation under the given name.

  2. Many of my relatives switched back and forth between first name & middle name from one census to the next. Sometimes a child was named after a parent and he/she was called by their middle name until that parent passes away or the child leaves home. Perhaps they liked one of the names more than the other.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get the Genealogy Tip of the Day Book
Get the More Genealogy Tip of the Day Book
Archives