It's still a material change to the name, and goes against everything we claim for evidential integrity. We get away with it in English names but it falls down for other cultures. As others have said, there are other options nowadays, including bold, italic, underline, different fonts, and different colours. Its use is still widespread but it really came from a time when we used typewriters, or maybe even manuscript, where the other options were either not there, or too onerous. Tony Proctor ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peggy Lauritzen via" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2015 3:10 PM Subject: [TGF] Capitalization of surnames >I am still a great believe in the capitalization of surnames. It may be > outdated, but it is something I recommend to those who are beginning their > genealogy pursuit. > > The examples I use are the number of people that have a first name for a > last name: Elton John, Emma Grace, etc. Right here in my own area, we > have a friend named Ellis Wayne Richard. To me, if they weren't > capitalized, it would be easy to think you haven't found their surname, > and > would always be waiting for the final umph that brings their name to a > close. > > -- > Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, AG > http://alwaysanxiouslyengaged.blogspot.com > AND > http://misspeggy55.weebly.com > *People may never remember what you had to say, but they'll always > remember > how long it took you to say it.* > *Accredited Genealogist and AG are certification marks of the > International > Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). > Genealogists licensed to use the marks have met the competency standards > of > ICAPGen.* > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > message

The question did not seem to define a specific area in which we might capitalize. It seems the answer could be, it depends. If this is an article for a publication that capitalizes, then wouldn't we follow the style for the publication? Some genealogy society publications capitalize, many publications don't. If this is your own personal database or genealogy program, what difference does it make to anyone else? My probate and Navy FTM files capitalize the full name of the decedent or serviceman. This helps me to find him quickly in the people index and he stands out on the tree charts. But names are not capitalized in the reports. Could it just depend on the circumstance? d -- Dee Dee King, Certified Genealogist (sm), Certificate 903 Forensic Genealogy Services LLC and Contract Genealogist, US Navy Casualty, POW/MIA Branch Mail address - PO Box 1085, Manvel TX 77578 Telephone/fax 281-595-3090 www.forensicgenealogyservices.com www.facebook.com/forensicgenealogist Certified Genealogist (CG) is a service mark (sm) of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, conferred to associates who consistently meet ethical and competency standards in accord with peer-reviewed evaluations every five years, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.

It would make a big difference if you're sharing your data with someone else. I've certainly had to undo capitalisation in information shared with me so that I can store the data correctly. Sometimes, it's not obvious what it should have been without going back to each corresponding source (if cited). For instance, names beginning "de la something" may follow different preferences and cultural norms. Capitalisation of names stored in a database, as opposed to when they're rendered on the screen or in a report, would be a definite error. It's also probably a different issue to the original one posed here, which I interpreted to be in relation to printed or typescript material. When names are stored correctly -- meaning as they were intended to be used, or as they were recorded in a particular source -- then a printed version of them can employ any style of your choice. Using the other methods of highlighting a name means that you're not changing it in any material way. I responded to this thread because I see this in a global context rather than just in an English-speaking one. Ignoring those contexts where the case of the name is important (and may add 'structure' to the name using "camel case"), there are some alphabets where upper/lower-case are asymmetrical (notably German), and there are other scripts where those concepts have no meaning at all. Tony Proctor ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]>; "Certified Genealogist via" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2015 6:00 PM Subject: Re: [TGF] Capitalization of surnames > The question did not seem to define a specific area in which we might > capitalize. It seems the answer could be, it depends. If this is an > article for > a publication that capitalizes, then wouldn't we follow the style for the > publication? Some genealogy society publications capitalize, many > publications > don't. If this is your own personal database or genealogy program, what > difference does it make to anyone else? My probate and Navy FTM files > capitalize > the full name of the decedent or serviceman. This helps me to find him > quickly > in the people index and he stands out on the tree charts. But names are > not > capitalized in the reports. Could it just depend on the circumstance? > > d > > > -- > Dee Dee King, Certified Genealogist (sm), Certificate 903 > Forensic Genealogy Services LLC > and Contract Genealogist, US Navy Casualty, POW/MIA Branch > > Mail address - PO Box 1085, Manvel TX 77578 > Telephone/fax 281-595-3090 > www.forensicgenealogyservices.com www.facebook.com/forensicgenealogist > > Certified Genealogist (CG) is a service mark (sm) of the Board for > Certification > of Genealogists®, conferred to > associates who consistently meet ethical and competency standards in > accord with > peer-reviewed evaluations every > five years, and the board name is registered in the US Patent & Trademark > Office. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > message