Hi Doug, You have had so far; Progenitor, Patriarch and Root. Add to that Seed or Source. Regards, David J Grimshaw (or is it Grimason?) Genealogical Researcher of the "Grimason" surname and variations of the "Grimason" surname World Wide. A One Name study registered with the Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS): 6138 formerly 2962 The "Sherlock Holmes" of this family according to some. On 23/04/2017 2:39 AM, Doug Beezley wrote: > This is a very simple question for which the answer may provoke me to > slap my forehead and say "D'OH". > Is there a common term for the "earliest ancestor" in a given surname pedigree? > > I want the shorthand sort of like MRCA is used. Anyone? > > Doug Beezley > Cincinnati OH > _____________________________________________ > > Information and admin page: > http://one-name.org/guild-information-administration/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GOONS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >