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THE SOUNDEX AND THE INTERNET

© Christine Sievers

Our ancestors had the confusing habit of changing the spellings of their surnames. That is why the soundex is an important research tool. The soundex is an indexing system that translates your surnames into a code of 1 letter and 3 numbers. By using this code, you can match your name with similar surnames that are spelled differently. For more information, Allen Lacy, at his site What is Soundex?, gives a short and clear introduction to the soundex.

The first thing you need to do is to translate your surnames into the soundex code. I wrote mine on a 5x7 file card, so I have them at my fingertips when I need them. You can find the soundex machine at many sites, but the one I found the easiest to use is at Soundex, by Moishe Miller. He also provides a few rules, and a detailed explanation of how it works.

Now you are ready to start your research of variant surname spellings. A good place to start is at The Surname Soundex Index, by Allen Lacy. He has provided a "springboard" to explore Gedcom links on the Web by using your soundex codes.

Remember to keep an open mind when it comes to how your surnames might have been spelled. Then, you will be ready to use the soundex to explore the census records. For more information on these records you can obtain a free copy of Using the Census Soundex by the National Archives and Records Administration. Information for sending for it can be found at the end of their article How the Soundex Indexing System Works.

Continuing from last week, here are more nationality-specific surname origin sites I have found:

1. Cherokee - What's in a Name?, by Kevin Cloud Brechner, (also helpful information for other Native American surnames)

2. Polish - Selected Polish Surnames (Index) by William F. Hoffman

3. Polish (Kashubian) - Kashub-Polish Family Names by Aloysius Rekowski and Lawrence R. Schultek

3. Scottish - Hints And Tips 5:Spelling of Names by Gordon Johnson

4. Scottish Clans - Clan Finder Page. Enter your Scottish surname and see if it is part of a clan

And a general link to surname origins: Surnames:What's in a Name? contains an extensive list

HOT TIP OF THE WEEK: Surname Web provides links to surname web pages. You can add your page.

Next week: Using search engines to find surname links

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