Family
Tree Maker is the program I use to organize my genealogy information. Using
this program I can print out various reports on the data I input. The
information below came from the Surname Report, sorted by surname count.
Total Male Female Earliest Most Recent
ALFORD 377 221 154 1645 1995
RITTER 350 210 139 1710 1967
BRUMFIELD 348 198 150 1720 1954
FORTENBERRY 334 194 138 1772 1979
SMITH 243 121 121 1756 1993
WOLF 199 113 85 1694 1911
BROWN 154 87 64 1730 2011
ELLZEY 117 66 51 1796 1980
MARK 100 58 42 1812 1979
OTT 95 56 38 1666 1919
Note:
The number of males + females does not always = total. There are many infants
or children who died young and no first name or sex was recorded.
It
is interesting that the common surnames Brown & Smith are not #1 & #2
on this list. It is precisely because they are so common that it makes it
harder to claim an individual. If I find Adolphus Ott in rural LA in the mid
1850s I can be confident he is mine because that is an unusual name. But it is
much harder to find the correct John Brown at the same time and place because
there are many with that name.
Follow the links connected to each Surname to my website for more information on each family.
All of these surnames are on my father's side of the family tree. My mother's family is much smaller.
What
are your Top Surnames?
Related Posts:
- Alford Generation #1: John Alford, 1645 VA - 1710 VA
- Johannes Ritter, Sr.
- Revolutionary War Patriot & Spy, John Brumfield
Colleen, I never used this report feature of my RootsMagic 7 before. Because of you, now I know how it works! And I learned that the top 2 surnames in my husband's tree are: WOOD (duh), 183 instances, earliest being 1551; and LARIMER, 155 instances, earliest 1719. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteGreat. Glad you find ti fund to do. 1551 for WOOD is amazing!
DeleteWhat an interesting report. I will try this. However, I suspect my top two will not be the families I am most interested in.
ReplyDeleteWendy, give it a try. You might be surprised.
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