Posts in December 16, 2017

A relative’s name first name is Christian. Sometimes he’s listed in records as Chris–which makes perfect sense. Other times he is clearly listed as Christopher, although that’s not his name. Is it possible your ancestor whose name is John occasionally gets listed as Jonathan? Did Michael become Micah in some record? Stay open to the possibility that some clerk, official, or enumerator took the first few letters of your relative’s actual name and used another name starting with those same few letters. That’s how Geske becomes Gertrude and that’s how we can easily overlook potential references to our ancestors. Check out GenealogyBank‘s offer for our fans, followers, and subscribers.