Home› Welcome to the FamilySearch Community!› Ask a Question› Search

Can I search without a last name

System
System admin
February 8, 2024 edited December 23, 2024 in Search
This discussion was created from comments split from: Native American ansestry.
0

Answers

  • John Whitaker_4
    John Whitaker_4 ✭
    February 8, 2024 edited February 8, 2024

    I only have the married name of my friend's mother. I don't know what her maiden name was. She was Tohono O'odham and she married a Navajo. She was born in Sells, Pima, Arizona in 1937 and Died there (I believe) in 1988. How do I search without her maiden name?

    0
  • Áine Ní Donnghaile
    Áine Ní Donnghaile ✭✭✭✭✭
    February 8, 2024

    @John Whitaker_4

    Yes, you can search without a surname. Sometimes you have to coax the system to accept your entry, but it is possible.

    BUT - I did a search for Tohono, no surname, born in Arizona between 1935 and 1940, and the only result was an obituary for Deacon Philip James Lopez. Unfortunately, that obituary was indexed by a computer, and the computer made some errors. The obituary lists the place where Deacon Lopez died as "this Tohono O'odham village," but the computer algorithm has turned that into the name of his spouse. The obituary lists his surviving wife as Dorothy.

    You can see the full obituary at https://www.genealogybank.com/nbshare/AC01100711225640281771707415002

    Hope this helps.

    1
  • Julia Szent-Györgyi
    Julia Szent-Györgyi ✭✭✭✭✭
    February 8, 2024

    It's illogical, but sometimes, putting an asterisk in the surname field helps convince the system to let you search without one. (It can get all whiny about it otherwise. I forget what the phrasing of the error message is, but it comes across to me as "nah, I donna wanna".)

    2
  • Áine Ní Donnghaile
    Áine Ní Donnghaile ✭✭✭✭✭
    February 8, 2024

    Yes, I did use an asterisk this time, too. But, that's not the issue at hand. 😎

    0
This discussion has been closed.
Clear
No Groups Found

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 42.8K Ask a Question
  • 3.3K General Questions
  • 570 FamilySearch Center
  • 6.7K Get Involved/Indexing
  • 640 FamilySearch Account
  • 6.5K Family Tree
  • 5.2K Search
  • 1K Memories
  • 2 Suggest an Idea
  • 473 Other Languages
  • 62 Community News
  • Groups