Posted by Jessica Murray on March 31, 2015 in Ancestry.com /blog
If you’ve spent a significant amount of time researching your family history, you’ve probably run into many of your ancestors referred to with a nickname in records, including censuses.
Being familiar with nicknames that your ancestor may have used could help you overcome that “brick wall.” It can also prevent the frustration of discovering that that “other” person is actually . . .
If you’ve spent a significant amount of time researching your family history, you’ve probably run into many of your ancestors referred to with a nickname in records, including censuses.
Being familiar with nicknames that your ancestor may have used could help you overcome that “brick wall.” It can also prevent the frustration of discovering that that “other” person is actually . . .
| Name A - Female | Nickname |
someone you’ve already identified in your tree.
Keep in mind that some nicknames may have been common in the region where your ancestor came from, and there are many nicknames not commonly-used today that were widely used by our ancestors.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be breaking down first names for men and women and offering some respective nicknames. Hopefully, this will be helpful to you as you come across variant names in your family history research.
Keep in mind that some nicknames may have been common in the region where your ancestor came from, and there are many nicknames not commonly-used today that were widely used by our ancestors.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be breaking down first names for men and women and offering some respective nicknames. Hopefully, this will be helpful to you as you come across variant names in your family history research.
Walter Wood Where will we be able to find this list as it is completed?
March 31, 2015 at 2:41 pm
Jessica Murray @Walter
The series will be published here over the next few months and the entire series will be turned into a guide which will be hosted on the Ancestry Learning Center which is publicly accessible.
March 31, 2015 at 2:50 pm
Roberta Douglas I was transcribing some old family letters that my mother had given me. The letters were written to “cousin Frank”. Unable to determine who Frank was, I asked my mother and she said “that’s my grandmother, Francis H Curtis. They always called her Frank.” I don’t think I would have been able to identify who that person was if my mother wasn’t alive to ask.
March 31, 2015 at 4:10 pm
pat gibson what a great idea and should be very helpful to a lot of researchers. thanks for putting this list together. I look forward to having access to the full list.
March 31, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Lisa Leavitt At least most of these make sense. I grew up calling my Great Aunt “Aunt Jennie”. My Dad called her that also. I could never find her and then found out through her birth record that her name was really “Janet”. How do you get “Jennie” out of Janet? Her brother was John and they called him Jack. I don’t think those two are close either. It does make genealogy difficult when nicknames are used in place of real names. This list will be great!
March 31, 2015 at 5:59 pm
debbi s. I run into quite often Mary being called Polly; apparently that was common for some reason. And Sarah as Sadie or Sally; those also cause problems when the census uses the nicknames.
March 31, 2015 at 9:44 pm
jdove222 Mary was a very common name for my ancestors. Most were called by a nickname, such as Molly, Polly, and Mattie. It seems like all my ancestors named Sarah were called Sallie.
- See more at: http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/03/31/abcs-of-commonly-used-nicknames-a-c/#sthash.Jep9Awl9.dpuf
March 31, 2015 at 2:41 pm
Jessica Murray @Walter
The series will be published here over the next few months and the entire series will be turned into a guide which will be hosted on the Ancestry Learning Center which is publicly accessible.
March 31, 2015 at 2:50 pm
Roberta Douglas I was transcribing some old family letters that my mother had given me. The letters were written to “cousin Frank”. Unable to determine who Frank was, I asked my mother and she said “that’s my grandmother, Francis H Curtis. They always called her Frank.” I don’t think I would have been able to identify who that person was if my mother wasn’t alive to ask.
March 31, 2015 at 4:10 pm
pat gibson what a great idea and should be very helpful to a lot of researchers. thanks for putting this list together. I look forward to having access to the full list.
March 31, 2015 at 4:49 pm
Lisa Leavitt At least most of these make sense. I grew up calling my Great Aunt “Aunt Jennie”. My Dad called her that also. I could never find her and then found out through her birth record that her name was really “Janet”. How do you get “Jennie” out of Janet? Her brother was John and they called him Jack. I don’t think those two are close either. It does make genealogy difficult when nicknames are used in place of real names. This list will be great!
March 31, 2015 at 5:59 pm
debbi s. I run into quite often Mary being called Polly; apparently that was common for some reason. And Sarah as Sadie or Sally; those also cause problems when the census uses the nicknames.
March 31, 2015 at 9:44 pm
jdove222 Mary was a very common name for my ancestors. Most were called by a nickname, such as Molly, Polly, and Mattie. It seems like all my ancestors named Sarah were called Sallie.
- See more at: http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/03/31/abcs-of-commonly-used-nicknames-a-c/#sthash.Jep9Awl9.dpuf
