GENEALOGYBITSANDPIECES-L Archives

From: "Sally Rolls Pavia" <>
Subject: [GENEALOGYBITSANDPIECES] Google Tips for Genealogy: Spelling
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 07:29:54 -0700

When you use Google you are searching an index of web pages found on the
Internet. Keep in mind who publishes those web pages: fellow genealogists,
cousins . . .human beings. Are human beings consistent with spelling? Nope.
Do human beings make mistakes? You bet. Does every human being use his or
her spell-checker? I wish.
Variant Spellings, Misspellings, and Typos:
When searching on names we have learned (or are learning) to look for all
variant spellings of given names, surnames, and place names. For example,
when looking for Anderson you should also look for Andersen, Andersson,
Anderssen, and possibly just Anders, etc. The same goes for keywords or
phrases that you might use in a search. So, when looking for one word/phrase
also look for misspellings or typos for that word, such as:
genealogy --> geneology, geneaology, genology
ancestry --> ancestory
family history --> family histroy
cemetery --> cemetary
Other Languages:
Remember to use words and phrases from languages other than your own,
particularly those from the country of origin for your ancestors. If you are
looking for your Swedish ancestor use Swedish words in your searches. For
example, use translation software or tools like the FamilySearch word lists
to locate the Swedish words for birth (födda, födde, född, födelse), burial
(begravning), wife (hustru, maka), etc.
Build Your Queries:
You need to build a series of possible search queries based on various
spellings, words, and phrases. The queries can be stored in a document on
your computer and used over and over again each time you sit down to Google
your ancestors. Just copy and paste them when you are ready to search. So,
using my previous (simple) Peter Johnson example, I would start to build a
series of several queries like this:
genealogy peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

geneology peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

geneaology peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

genology peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

"family history" peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

"family histroy" peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

"family tree" peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

ancestry peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

ancestory peter Johnson Iowa Sweden

genealogy peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

geneology peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

geneaology peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

genology peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

"family history" peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

"family histroy" peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

"family tree" peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

ancestry peter johnsen Iowa Sweden

ancestory peter johnsen Iowa Sweden
As you can see above it would be possible to come up with dozens of variant
queries to try out based on combinations of misspellings, typos, and more.
Posted by Cyndi Howells at 7:47 PM

This thread:

• [GENEALOGYBITSANDPIECES] Google Tips for Genealogy: Spelling by "Sally Rolls Pavia" <>