What aliases mean in a Residence Database record?
I have found a record in [United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024] and the person found there has several aliases. What does it mean? I am sure that I have found the person I am looking for, but I need to know how to deal with the aliases. Do I need to research them separately later on?
It will be very helpful to find out how aliases were indexed on residence record, as I will understand better how to conduct the research further.
Note: I tried to see if this question was previously asked, but I did not found any close answer. Many thanks for your time.
Answers
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Can you please give a link to the record in question?
Looking at the explanation of that collection, it seems to be one of these miscellaneous data collections from a commercial provider. I'm never certain why such collections are created in the first place - maybe to provide details for advertising campaigns? Details for research campaigns by people with varying motives?
If you think that I regard them with a cynical eye, you'd be right. I have no knowledge, and therefore no confidence in the accuracy of the data in them.
More practically for yourself, since there are so many possibilities, I suspect that it's impossible to give a general answer. So if you can give the precise link to your records, maybe someone can hazard a guess about how that data is put together and what it might mean.
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This is the record, thanks for your time.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6TJZ-16NS0 -
Yup, as Adrian said, it's one of those commercial data aggregators that comb through various sorts of public records (such as phone books, from back when those still existed) and group the ones that their algorithms say are for the same person. All of those "aliases" are just the many ways that junkmail companies and such have managed to mangle the poor guy's name.
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Yes, I am aware that some of the aliases are just misspelling (in some cases). I just need to know if I can decide which name was the legal name, as the name from country of origin was probably changed in naturalization.
Thanks for answering.0 -
I sometimes use my full name (first, middle, last) and sometimes just my initials and last. When I was younger, records would be in my middle name and last. All of those variations will be found as my aliases. A woman who has been married several times will have various names in that record set, or a man who took his wife's name, hyphenated or not.
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Have you tried the NUMIDENT collection?
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Yes, I have tried, with no success. Maybe the record is not indexed on NUMIDENT database? Or my person declared another name when applying for SSN? That's why I asked about aliases, I have searched with all of them and no luck so far.
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There's no way to figure out from the aggregated data which of those variations (if any) appeared on official documents and which on non-official ones, but looking at them, I wouldn't necessarily assume any change at naturalization. (Nor would I automatically assume that he was naturalized.)
The name is definitely Romanian. As far as I know, George can be spelled as either George or Gheorghe in that language, Alexander is generally written as Alexandru, and that surname's usual form is Georgescu. I would expect his "official" name(s) to be some combination of those spellings (or abbreviations of same), if the aggregated data is correct. However, it is entirely possible — and fully legal! — for someone to use a different name with the phone company than he did when he bought his house, so it's possible that there are other records out there that are also him, but which aren't grouped with him because they're under a different name.
In general, I wouldn't use a data aggregator result as a starting point. There are simply too many ways for it to be wrong.
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I checked another website for the name/dates, and he may have died in 2021. In that case, he would not be in the NUMIDENT, since it does not contain records of those who died so recently.
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Thanks for your time and research. The person I am looking for died in 2013, from another site I have also the SSN number (they publish SSN for a deceased, if dead for 10 years or longer).
On NARA website I have found NUMIDENT searchable database for deceased persons, but only until 2007 and I needed until 2013. I wonder if I can make a FOIA request to NARA for his data, as he is deceased? Or FOIA request need to be sent to the creator of the information (Federal Security Agency)?0 -
You can request his SS-5 (social security application) without a FOIA. This post gives good instructions on how to make the request. https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/01/30/ordering-the-ss-5-2024-style/
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Thank for your extended response. I found that the person is dead since 2013 (and crosschecked with another information that I had). It would be nice to find some records for his ancestors and I don't know their names. That's why I was looking for naturalization record or social security records, where I need a legal name. I only know that he got SSN between '78-'79 in New York and maybe he got his citizenship around '84-'85.
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That's very valuable, thank you!
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Is this him? https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2C3Q-XR5
If so, he won't be in FS's NUMIDENT records, as those only go to 2007, and his naturalization may not be online (because New York). His SS-5 may be your best bet for further information.
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Yes, it is him. I will send a request for a copy of SS-5. Thanks for your help!
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Would the naturalization records of New York be anywhere on images, even they are not indexed? I can sure give a try to look into them.
P.S. I already sent the SS-5 request online, as instructed in the blog post, everything went smooth :).1 -
You might find an index but it's unlikely that the full images would be online for something so recent. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/New_York_City_Naturalization_and_Citizenship
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Thanks, Áine. No records of interest there, I already searched (e.g. for the americanization name there are zero records, for original name there are several - none of interest).
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I am back to let you know that I already received the copy of SS-5 form from SSA. I did not expect such prompt response, but the fact that I had SSN (from another genealogy site) sure helped a lot. I now have data to investigate further, thanks for your assistance.
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