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Geni naming conventions - genealogical methods
See the projects Geni naming conventions and Geni naming conventions - data entry for general guidance.
- Use ordinary case. Name Preference Settings can be used to change how names are displayed to your personal preference.
- Name as close to original name as possible, language, geography and time period to be taken into consideration.
- Birth Surname is not a namefield used genealogically. Genealogists enter the earliest Lastname a person had in the Lastname field. Lastnames used later in life are entered, dependent on the software, either in the "Also Known As (AKA)" field or under Nametabs for" Alternate Names" in the software capable of this feature. At the moment (December 2023) Geni do not have this feature, so a genealogist would write lastnames used later in life in the AKA field and leave the Birth Surname field empty.
- Patronymics in the Middle Name field.
- Adjust First Name field to avoid misunderstandings or mistaken identity where necessary, by adding order/number or byname.
- All names a person is known by in any source listed in Nicknames: bynames (especially in English), additional titles, variations.
- Document name sources.
Notes
- Most software systems have their own methods of using fields.
- If citing genealogical methods they need to be described and sourced.
References
- Ancestry.com: “When to Use Maiden Names and Bachelor Names.” < link > When entering anyone's name in a family tree, enter their last name at birth (in the case of women, often called a "maiden name"). Using birth names in family trees ties people to their original families, ensures that married people's pre-marriage names are recorded, and maintains consistency in your tree among single, people who married once, and people who married more than once. If you don't know someone's last name at birth, leave their last name blank.
- Ancestry.com: Continued: In all cases (including where someone married and didn't change their last name, when their name changed when they married, and when two people of the same gender married), enter both partners' last names as their birth names.
- Ancestry.com: Genealogical Standard: Names, Dates and Places video on Youtube
- FamilySearch: “How do I enter names in Family Tree?” < link > Legal name changes—If a person legally changed his or her name, other than through marriage, enter the newer legal name.
- Wikitree: “ Here are guidelines for using WikiTree's name fields.” < link > It's common for a person's name to change, especially with immigrants. The Proper First Name and Last Name at Birth fields should be the names they were born with, in their native language. The Preferred First Name and Current Last Name should be the names they used at the end of their life.
- “Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage: How Do I Cite a Name?” < link > Comments - There is no reason -- other than naivety or laziness on the part of the designer -- for a relational database to only hold one name for a person, or for a place for that matter. A database can easily hold multiple names, and even put date ranges on them; not only is this approach of referencing a group by a single key normal, but it's not much more complex either. … This is just one of my many arguments against the applicability of relational databases to genealogical/historical data.