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Name variation option

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  • Mute
MrBearden
MrBearden ✭
February 16, 2022 edited July 16, 2024 in Family Tree

Please add the ability for users to add variations of their last name so they can have a better chance of connecting to parent nodes if none exist for an ancestor couple. Ancestors may have had a different spelling of their last name in a new country, it may have been misinterpreted during documentation or altered to better integrate into a new country. An example is the name "Alex Sampsun" in the Great Britain may have been changed to " Alex Sampson" in the US colonial days.

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  • genthusiast
    genthusiast ✭✭✭✭✭
    February 16, 2022 edited February 16, 2022

    Add variants where - in Family Tree? The option does exist in Tree already - on person page Details: Other Information use Alternate Name.

    image.png

    Just click +Add Information and you will see Alternate Name (it's the first option at the top of the list)

    If you mean in an index of a record - it depends upon whether Names are currently editable in that indexed collection. But if editable - there is the Edit button available below the primary person name (in the banner).

    image.png

    When you click Edit you will be presented with the editable fields for the Record and you can insert Alternate Name/spelling there.

    image.png


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  • Gordon Collett
    Gordon Collett ✭✭✭✭✭
    February 19, 2022 edited February 19, 2022

    FamilySearch uses a fuzzy search technology in all search routines. That is why you see a wide variety of results when searching. To take your example of Sampsun vs Sampson, if I search for Sampsun, my results include Sampsun, Samme, Sampsonson, Sampson, Sam, Sams, and many more:

    Screen Shot 2022-02-19 at 6.27.20 AM.png

    You can broaden the search further by including up to four names in your search:

    Screen Shot 2022-02-19 at 6.37.12 AM.png

    You might be wondering how Fulcher showed up on the list. This is because Edna Fulcher has Edna Jones included as an alternate name on her profile name. Edna Jones is her married name. That is where genthusiast's information plays a roll. The search routine looks at all alternate names on a person when compiling the results.

    For greatest flexibility in your searches use wildcards (see: https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/searching-with-wildcards-in-familysearch). If you search using s*mp* you are going get a huge range of possible matches:

    Screen Shot 2022-02-19 at 6.45.15 AM.png


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