Ancestors and Relatives Are Completely Different

LegacyUser

Dana Elizabeth Dupuis said: My suggestion is that an incorrect terminology is being used by FamilySearch. The designation of RELATIVE and ANCESTOR are not interchangeable. No GG Uncle or GG Aunt, a relative, is an ancestor unless they are direct, at least to the legal system. They are relatives instead. I received a message today stating that I have a Pioneer "Ancestor," but he is a G Uncle, not a G Grandfather of mine. Those major names shown on my Pedigree Chart are my ancestors. Please consider making this distinction by correcting the designation currently being used, as it is very confusing to many people. Thank you so very much.

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: Your ancestors are your relatives, but not all relatives are ancestors.

I've been attempting to get FamilySearch to use a Style Guide for years, one that properly defines the terms that are used and then consistently use the style guide.

I'm not even sure they have such a guide because they continue to use terms incorrectly. This is just one example of such.

There are many others, including how links are represented and used. These should all be part of a style guide that is used to make sure there is no confusion over what is meant by which term and how various elements of the site are described and/or used.

LegacyUser

Jordi Kloosterboer said: Have you contacted Ron Tanner about a style guide in the past? If so, what did he say?

LegacyUser

Tom Huber said: No comment from Ron....

LegacyUser

joe martel said: It's probably because the word ancestor seems to be more endearing and patterns to this definition:
"a person who serves as an influence or model for another; one from whom mental, artistic, spiritual, etc., descent is claimed:
a philosophical ancestor."

LegacyUser

Jeff Wiseman said: Possibly so. But Dana is right. All of my cousins are in my extended family, but NONE of them are my ancestors.

LegacyUser

Adrian Bruce said: Yes - it's a question of context. In genealogy, our eleventeenth cousin, squiggle times removed, is not our ancestor.

However, when it gets to talking in more general terms, phrases like "During the Roman Empire, most of our ancestors would be peasants..." are perfectly acceptable - not least because the correct phrase "During the Roman Empire, most of our ancestors and deceased relatives would be peasants..." is just too much like hard work! And "most of our relatives" on its own, doesn't convey the passage of time.

Since most notifications about specific people from FS tend to refer to non-ancestors, and it's about genealogy, it would help to use the term "relatives".

LegacyUser

Jeff Wiseman said: of course, the farther back you go, the greater the number of cousins that you have that are ALSO ancestors :-)