>> > <snip> >> > >> > Bob- >> > >> > It may seem HARMLESS until you are confronted with thousands of >> > Newbie (and some not so Newbie) genealogists searching for years in >> > vain for the LNU ancestors. I even had one gal tell me she never >> > realized she had Mandarin Chinese ancestors until she found FNU LNU >> > and figured it was a Chinese ancestor. For about a year (until the >> > board was eventually put out of its misery) I adminned the LNU >> > message board at RootsWeb and dutifully wrote to all the posters >> > letting them know they were probably searching in vain for their >> > wild LNUs. >> > >> > Joan <JYoung6180@aol.com> >> >> Believe me, I do understand that human stupidity has no limits - I >> learned the hard way while doing tech support at IBM in the early >> '90s, I won't regale you with my favorite stories, however; suffice >> to say they amply illustrate the point. >> >> But the present case seems to me to be somewhat otherwise, given the >> lack of consensus on the right and proper way, however you wish to >> define right and proper, to indicate unknown name elements. In many >> ways, it seems to be a High Church/Low Church or big-endian/ >> little-endian argument with no hope of resolution. The lack of >> consensus is clearly illustrated by the article you originally >> cited, with no one method clearly favored. >> >> What do _I_ use? I leave the unknown portion of the name blank. >> Why? Because I don't like any of the other alternatives, including >> FNU. That said, methinks the right answer to the OP is "whatever >> works for you, but be ready to explain yourself". >> >> Swell Ol' Bob Melson <amia9018@mypacks.net> > > I thought it was Sweet Ol' Bob, nevertheless... > > I recognize the use of "Unknown" so all of them wind up in the "U" > section of an alpha listing BUT > > in your personal opinion why would you not use ? or ??? for unknown? > > I deplore filling the blanks with "good intentions". > > Don't hold back - I'm used to comments from Sweet Ol' Bobs! 8-) > > Hugh <Eagle@bellsouth.net> (J. Hugh Sullivan) Hugh, I generally leave the unknown portion blank, as I said. I do so because it unambiguously "records" the lack of information, unlike acronyms or the various punctuation options - IMO, it's kinda hard to misinterpret a blank. (p)Sychotic Ol' Bob -- Robert G. Melson | Rio Grande MicroSolutions | El Paso, Texas ----- A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have. Thomas Jefferson Bob Melson <amia9018@mypacks.net>