Search results Maiden Name vs married name
I have found (more often than not) that a lot of the historical records for married females won’t show up in search results even though I’ve added the spouse ... why doesn’t the system search for both the maiden and married name? I have to refine my search usually and change maiden name to married name in order to get different/more results ... why does it ask for spousal info in search criteria screen if it’s not gonna use it ? 🤷🏻♀️ 😐 😊
Answers
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in most cases its going to search on whatever the name was of the person at the time of the event (and the name recorded on such original documents) and not try to assume it knows what the married name going forward.
A birth record, census record (when a child) will use maiden name
a marriage record will be recorded on the maiden name - because that is what is on the record.
a census record after the couple is married - would be under the name under which they were recorded (which normally would be the married name)
a death record would also usually be under the married name (at the time of death)
records are indexed by the name on the document for the event at the time of the event.
It is up to us - to change our search parameters - based on what we would expect to see on the original record.
I think the system intentionally avoid trying to predict what the name might be
and simply searches on the names that appear on the historical record.
But we as users can adjust our searches to use either maiden or married name based on what type of historical record we are looking for.
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Even if you add the married name as an Alternate Name in Family Tree it still will not help in your searches at https://www.familysearch.org/search/. I have female relatives who (in the 19th century) married two or three times. I find it no problem to change the last name around in a search, although I admit I sometimes do forget I'm searching on the maiden name and wonder why expected results have not been produced! There are usually plenty of adjustments to be made to the search criteria to enable you to find the desired sources (e.g. use of wildcards, removal of data from different fields to narrow down / produce more results, etc.), so I don't think FamilySearch really needs to change anything here.
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the point of adding spouse name - is for finding records where the spouses name is on the record.
the search is going against historical records - it will search for whatever name is on those historical records.
if you wanted to find a married lady on a census record - you would use the married name because that is the (most probable) name on the record.
the index does not index names that are NOT on the historical record. if the married name is not on the historical record it wont index on it - -if it is it will.
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keep in mind this is not an index to FS Family Tree - where by we (normally) know the the maiden name, married name and alternate names and you can indeed do the type of searching you are talking about. ]
this is a completely disjoint database of historical records - - the only name they will index on in the historical records database is the name that is on the record. each historical record is a disjoint record.
the system doesnt know that a lady on a census record with married name of Jones - actually was born with the name of SMITH. it can only index each historical record by the name on that record - and nothing else. each record is totally independent.
of course in the FamilySearch Family Tree database - we do know this - because all the records are united together.
but in the historical records database - each record is a record on its own - and is only indexed by the names on that exact historical record.
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Again... why does the search screen ask for the spouses name? It only searches the name you input as the person you’re searching for ... if I put in Jane Smith and say her spouse is Joe Jones... I’ll get results for Jane Smith... if I put in Jane Jones I get results for Jane Jones ... again why ask for spouse and parents names if it’s not going to include that criteria while searching the records ?
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And I’m aware that it only shows records with the names as they are on the records ... that has nothing to do with my question.
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but if I wanted to find records where the souse is on the record then I’d just search for the spouse
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If I am looking for a marriage record where Jane Smith married John Jones
I will type in Jane smith
and add the spouse name of John Jones
adding a spouse name - ONLY makes sense when searching for a record where the spouse name is on the record. (usually marriage records)
if I am not looking for a marriage record - then I will probably leave off the spouse name
(because the spouses name is not on the record)
this all goes back to the "less is more" methodology - which I shared
if you put in too many search parameters - it will quite possibly filter out a record you are indeed looking for.
for example if I input Jane Smith and husband John Jones
it may not return a birth record for Jane Smith - because such birth record does not reference a John Jones.
rather on a birth record search I would add the names of the parents - such as Thomas Smith.
For records created before marriage
use child name and parent name
For marriage records use maiden name and spouse name
For death record maybe use married name and death date
for census records use married name and spouse name
if the spouse name is not on the historical record - dont use it in your search
i
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with names like Smith and Jones -and for most marriage records
you are going to want to enter BOTH husband and wife
so that you drastically narrow down your search - instead of having to look through thousands of Jones
you use BOTH names - person and spouse on a marriage search.
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no problem
again each historical record stands on its own
you will only enter wife and spouse - for those records that you expect BOTH names to be on the document.
and only enter child and parent - where you expect child and parent to be on the record.
so when you do a search query - instead of adding entries for every single parameter (birth, death, spouse, father, mother, residence.)
RATHER choose wisely - WHICH parameters will uniquely identify the document - and just start with those. adding more search parameters on a query - does NOT return more records - it returns LESS - because its trying to match on all your entered items.
start with a few parameters that you expect to be on the record - and only add more - if the results you got were just way too many.
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Dennis has shared some valid insights here. I always try using the least amount of information when I search first. I then add more information to narrow the choices or to increase hints. It seems funny that more information can do both, but it does. If we completely fill out the information, some results will be screened out because they do not match all of the information.
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