(Thought you might enjoy Joan's serious, and sometimes light-hearted, explanation of "unknown" names in databases. Sarge) ================================================ Perhaps this article might help. (I sent this to the list earlier but I haven't seen it posted and it isn't archived--so please forgive me if this comes through twice): Previously published in RootsWeb Review: Vol. 6, No. 35, 27 August 2003. (From the RootsMagic Mailing List at Rootsweb.) In Search of the Wild LNUs A long time ago in a kingdom far away there lived a fair maiden by the name of Fnu MNU. She married a handsome young knight named Sir Arthur LNU and thus she became Fnu (MNU) LNU. Wait! Stop! Does this sound a bit like a page out of YOUR family tree? Are you spending sleepless nights prowling the Web in search of your elusive MNU and LNU ancestors? Or perhaps you've encountered them in someone's GEDCOM file on WorldConnect at RootsWeb, and after doing more searches have come to the conclusion that there are many researchers out there hunting those wild and crazy LNUs. Well, it's time to let you in on one of genealogy's best kept secrets: LNU, MNU, and FNU are not real names. They are acronyms. (Acronyms are combinations of the first letters/syllables in a group of words to form a new grouping of letters that can be pronounced as a word.) They are: First Name Unknown (FNU), Maiden Name Unknown (MNU), and Last Name Unknown (LNU). They are first cousins to the mysterious UNK ancestors that you might have spent time tracking down until you realized that UNK was short for "unknown". Researchers have used these acronyms, and other symbols and abbreviations, for years, with little or no uniformity from file to file, to indicate the unknown or missing names. The meaning of these acronyms is often unclear and can be mistaken for actual names by new -- and not so new -- genealogists. After all, we all have a few oddly spelled names in our trees, so what's a MNU or two? On another note, be careful should you encounter any DITTO ancestors in your line. DITTO is an actual surname, but it is frequently mistaken as a sur- name by those reading an enumerator's "ditto" entry to denote that the name is the same as the one listed above it. (DITTO and DITTOE are Anglicized forms of a Huguenot name of unexplained etymology. The names are found in North America by 1700. Ditto also is a short form of the Italian personal name Benedetto.) All of this name confusion serves to reinforce the notion that while user- compiled genealogies are a valuable tool in research, you need to examine original records to verify or refute what the compiled records indicate. When possible examine the records for yourself. What can you do to make your files clear as to the abbreviation or acronyms you use to indicate any unknown given names, maiden names, or surnames? There are no perfect solutions or worldwide standards. Some compilers, especially those who use genealogy software, put a question mark to indicate that a name is not known, but this is not recommended as some creative family historians use one question mark, while others use two or three, and a ? for a name might mean one thing to you and something else to another researcher A recent unscientific search at WorldConnect at Rootsweb.Ancestry.com revealed the following are being used as names: Unknown-- 2,742,761 LNU/Lnu -- 14,134 UNK/Unk -- 39,332 FNU -- 139 MNU/Mnu -- 3,357 ?? -- 78,201 ?,? -- 605,694 ??? -- 140,665 ___ (underscores of variable lengths) 6,244 - (one hyphen) 6,491 MRS/Mrs (as a given name) -- 555,699 [--?--] 3,125 Obviously there is no standard for indicating that a name is not known -- hence the confusion. The search even turned up an ancestor by the name of Unk FNU -- with FNU probably used as an acronym for Family Name Unknown. Not surprisingly, there was no birth date or place for her and one wonders why such information is even included. It serves no purpose. [Here Sarge MUST step in and comment. I agree 100%!!!!! FNU/Fnu, MNU/Mnu, LNU/Lnu, etc., are totally asinine when included in genealogy databases! Leave the names blank if you don't have anything to enter!!!!! The only exception to this that I would advocate is to list a wife's surname as something like "(wife of CRECELIUS, John)", when no given or maiden name is known, or something like "Martha (wife of CRECELIUS, John)" when only the first name is known.] Unknown maiden names should be indicated by using square brackets with a single em dash (or two hyphens, if the software, typesetting or word- processing programs will not accept or use em dashes), or use a question mark amid the em dashes -- e. g. Catherine [--] or Catherine [--?--]. The same format can be used when the given name is unknown or in doubt. The latter happens sometimes when you learn your female ancestor married someone whose surname is known, but not his given name. Such references can be recorded as [--?--] Smith. Some of the popular genealogy soft- ware has to be forced to use this format. [Again, Sarge steps in here. There's nothing that says that "Unknown maiden names should be indicated by using square brackets..." Heck, use whatever convention suits your scheme -- just BE CONSISTENT!!!!! I REALLY like entering an unknown surname as "(wife of CRECELIUS, John)" or "(husband of WILHITE, Eliza)", using the known spouse's surname.] In formal genealogical writing, the English tradition of putting a woman's maiden name in parentheses -- Elizabeth (Smith) Jones -- is commonly used by many genealogists. Therefore nicknames should not be put in parentheses, but rather enclosed in quotation marks. Example: Catherine "Cathy" [--?--] Jones. Again, your genealogy software program may or may not handle nicknames in this format or might require some tweaking. For those female ancestors with middle names that might be (or mistaken for) surnames, such as Mary Morgan Kirby, it is important to indicate that Kirby is her maiden name. If her nickname was Polly, and she married a Smith her name should be recorded so that in a family history publication it appears as: Mary "Polly" Morgan (Kirby) Smith. [Again, old Sarge must issue a disclaimer!!!!! I don't know of ANY "English tradition" of entering a woman's maiden name in parentheses. (SORRY JOAN!) I don't worry about what a woman's MARRIED name might have been when she married another husband; I enter her name as THE BIRTH SURNAME!!!!! Then, I show that she married so-and-so; and, finally, I include a NOTE explaining what her maiden name was, what her married name was from the first husband, etc. In other words, A WOMAN'S NAME SHOULD ALWAYS BE ENTERED INTO A GENEALOGY DATABASE AS HER MAIDEN NAME!!!!! Just that, nothing more, nothing less -- let your Notes explain the rest. After all, why do genealogy programs have Notes? Do you forget to use them?] Remember you do not have to fill in every field in your genealogy software. If you do not know the given or maiden name of a woman, either leave the field blank or use [--?--]. Her given name is not MRS, and certainly not Mrs. King William of England. [From Sarge: Thank you good spirits for giving us Joan to emphasize this simple concept! A woman's name is certainly not MRS!!!!! Her surname is certainly not her husband's surname!!!!! In order to make sure I am ABSOLUTELY understood, let me reiterate this concept. In genealogy program databases a woman's name is NOT "Mrs. Samuel SMITH" or "Mrs. Smith" or "Mrs. anything!!!!! When you enter a wife's surname as that of her husband, you just screw up the whole thing!!!!! THE HUSBAND'S SURNAME WAS NOT "HER" SURNAME!!!!! Get over it; stop doing this! If you MUST enter a surname, use some kind of convention that is more definitive, e. g. show her as something like "wife of SMITH, Samuel" or whatever you want.] Using acronyms or various symbols when names are unknown is not a good idea because you want to make it clear that the name is unknown so as not to send others and generations of future researchers on an endless and futile search for the wild LNU. Don't put your cousins in the position of having to ask, "What's MNU? Or who is Unk FNU?" Joan =============================================== Thank you Joan. We're almost "on the same page". Maybe one of these days we'll all agree on standards for genealogy database entries that are not only good practice, but also make sense. Sarge

LNU is a productive family! Rootsweb just produced 55,676 hits for me! Perhaps we should upload the LNU tree! <g>

Okay, George, we are learning. Now, how do we enter surnames into our databases that are changed for some reason other than marriage? My dad is an example of such a "special case." He was born in 1906 with the surname "Marks," but his birth certificate was lost in a courthouse fire in Montana. In his teen years assumed the surname of his stepdad, "Davis." The name was not legally changed, but when he applied for social security he had problems and went before a judge. The judge ruled, "Your name is what you call yourself." So, how do I enter "Marks" on my dad's genealogy entry? Sometimes I've been entering it as a second middle name, sometimes in parentheses. I believe "Davis" should be recorded as his surname, since everyone knew him as Davis, his wife and kids were named Davis, and his tombstone says Davis. Is there any convention for such cases? -----Original Message----- From: germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of by way of "George W. Durman"<GermannaResearch@comcast.net> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 12:06 AM To: Germanna_Colonies@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMANNA] Unknown Names (LNU, MNU, FNU, etc., etc., ad infinitum) [Again, old Sarge must issue a disclaimer!!!!! I don't know of ANY "English tradition" of entering a woman's maiden name in parentheses. (SORRY JOAN!) I don't worry about what a woman's MARRIED name might have been when she married another husband; I enter her name as THE BIRTH SURNAME!!!!! Then, I show that she married so-and-so; and, finally, I include a NOTE explaining what her maiden name was, what her married name was from the first husband, etc. In other words, A WOMAN'S NAME SHOULD ALWAYS BE ENTERED INTO A GENEALOGY DATABASE AS HER MAIDEN NAME!!!!! Just that, nothing more, nothing less -- let your Notes explain the rest. After all, why do genealogy programs have Notes? Do you forget to use them?]

I must side with George on this one! Please do use the maiden names! I don't care how many times they are married, their maiden name does not change! If at a future date, anyone finds a need to do DNA, (medical reasons for example), they won't be looking in the wrong direction... and they won't have to wonder what happened that dad's name doesn't match his fathers! Genealogy programs do have options for Adoptions, and they have notes... -----Original Message----- From: germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Marilyn Schwartz Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 11:19 AM To: germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] Unknown Names (LNU, MNU, FNU, etc., etc., ad infinitum) Okay, George, we are learning. Now, how do we enter surnames into our databases that are changed for some reason other than marriage? My dad is an example of such a "special case." He was born in 1906 with the surname "Marks," but his birth certificate was lost in a courthouse fire in Montana. In his teen years assumed the surname of his stepdad, "Davis." The name was not legally changed, but when he applied for social security he had problems and went before a judge. The judge ruled, "Your name is what you call yourself." So, how do I enter "Marks" on my dad's genealogy entry? Sometimes I've been entering it as a second middle name, sometimes in parentheses. I believe "Davis" should be recorded as his surname, since everyone knew him as Davis, his wife and kids were named Davis, and his tombstone says Davis. Is there any convention for such cases? -----Original Message----- From: germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of by way of "George W. Durman"<GermannaResearch@comcast.net> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 12:06 AM To: Germanna_Colonies@rootsweb.com Subject: [GERMANNA] Unknown Names (LNU, MNU, FNU, etc., etc., ad infinitum) [Again, old Sarge must issue a disclaimer!!!!! I don't know of ANY "English tradition" of entering a woman's maiden name in parentheses. (SORRY JOAN!) I don't worry about what a woman's MARRIED name might have been when she married another husband; I enter her name as THE BIRTH SURNAME!!!!! Then, I show that she married so-and-so; and, finally, I include a NOTE explaining what her maiden name was, what her married name was from the first husband, etc. In other words, A WOMAN'S NAME SHOULD ALWAYS BE ENTERED INTO A GENEALOGY DATABASE AS HER MAIDEN NAME!!!!! Just that, nothing more, nothing less -- let your Notes explain the rest. After all, why do genealogy programs have Notes? Do you forget to use them?] ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message