The family name, last name, or surname is the name that identifies the family and who belongs in that family. When people started identifying themselves with family names, different parts of the world used different naming conventions; some countries used a variation of the occupation, while others used the name of the town they were from, while still other countries based the family name on the father’s name. Most countries used the family name at the end of their name for example you might have a relative named Bob Jones, Jones being the family name, however in countries such as China, the family name is used first before any other names. Since your family is made up of ancestors on your fathers and mothers side, family names are important so you know which side of your family your ancestors are from.
Occupations are used to help you figure out what kind of life your ancestors led, were they blacksmiths or were they nobility? Occupations pay more attention to the family history part of genealogy than the lineage part. They can tell you the status of your ancestor and also help you decipher between two ancestors that may have the same name; for instance you have two Uncle Cyrus’s on the same side of your family, both born around the same time, only one was a politician and the one was a farmer, how would you reference them and know the difference? Using their occupation as a clue you could notate them as Uncle Cyrus the politician and Uncle Cyrus the farmer.
Did your family come from England, France, or China? Discovering the names of the places your family lived can help you figure out where your family came from. You do have to be careful though in your research, over the years many of the place names may have gone through name changes or different name spellings. Place names may change due to a number of reasons, sometimes the area your family may have come from at one point went through a period of conflict and the town or area may have been named one thing prior to the conflict and something different afterwards because of new ownership. It’s also entirely possible for two towns to be named the same thing but have different spellings, so make sure that you have the correct spelling and know the correct location.
When it comes to collecting dates for your genealogy research make sure that you are getting the right dates. When dates are recorded it’s a common mishap that the further away an event occurred the more chance you have of getting a wrong date, unless you get the date from a source that specifically recorded or records the information within a short period of time after the event occurred. An important thing to remember when it comes to dates, especially English or American dates, is in 1752 the calendar was changed to reflect a different start of the new year, prior to1752 the new year was celebrated on March 25th, but from 1752 and beyond the new year has been celebrated on January 1st.
