The Guild of One-Name Studies

Having been helping out in one of these I have found that there are many more names registered than I would have thought would be.
Obviously the rarer the Surname is the easier it is, or so I thought!
Having done a lot of research last year pre 1730 I have as many dead ends as to what happened to them as I do as to where they came from, but well worth checking out if the name you are doing is registered, you might just be surprised.

http://www.one-name.org/

 

Even if your name isn't registered with them, there is a good site referenced by the ONS which provides data on more recent times:
http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/

The referenced website suggests that due to a few known problems with the data you should multiply the result for your surname by 0.93 to give a good idea of the living population (in 2002) for that surname.

I tried it on my particular name of interest and found there were 114 alive in 2002.

It lets you do wildcard searches as well which is useful for discovering spelling variants.

 

i took a look at both sites and they were very interesting. I have never thought of starting a 'One Name Study' and just wonder how hard it is to do? Is it worth it? I have a couple of unusual surnames in my ancestry and it would be nice to find some connections.

 

I think it would be a big responsibility and a lot of work to formally declare yourself as being the one person who is responsible for that surname and its variants, globally!

My approach is to just get on with it without any such formal declaration. The Guild was vital before the internet age but now I'm not so sure. I just setup a website for my name of interest and if people type that surname into a search engine they will soon find me.

 

Yes my son suggested i just do a web site for my research but to be honest i am not that savvy with computer technology. Mind you if i got my son....who is very knowledgeable....to help me it may also prompt his interest in our ancestors (re. another thread where some of us suggested the 'young uns' are not so bothered, and ancestral interest tends to happen as you get older!) This is one for when i am on holiday in a couple of weeks, me thinks? Of course security is an issue, and need to investigate this further as i would not just want anyone to take my research. After all i could have some things wrong! (Don't think so as i have back up records but you never know)....so much i want to do and try and so little time

 

I had a large website for eleven years until my Internet Provider changed its policy and decided I would have to pay for this under the “Small Business” category, which I’m not - I only wished to freely share my findings. Over the years, despite having nearly 30,000 hits, I noticed the downward trend in people contacting me and then seeing my work duplicated far and wide without any reference to where they had obtained all the information. So I sadly took this opportunity to delete my site and not to seek another Internet Provider.

LostCousins now provides me with these new contacts in a very safe manner and it provides me with as much, and more, opportunities to be able to find and communicate with possibly new members of my family.

As far as your comments about the Guild of One Name Studies I have always held in high esteem my benefits gained by my membership to the Guild and family history societies. They provide me with other areas that I enjoy about family history researching which I have found can sometimes be somewhat insular going it alone with only a website. The personal meeting with like-minds and their much appreciated help and support over the years, the enjoyment of teamwork whilst voluntary transcribing documents and the pleasure of being able to help in this way, all future family history researchers, and the knowledge I have gained …… the list is endless. To be able to interact socially or through family history with the people connected who are all working voluntary, enthusiastically and share an abundance of knowledge – none, again, of which I found available just by having my website.

My One Name Study is not a big responsibility as all I need say to any of the members is “Help, please?” and I know I would get very helpful, immediate responses. The only formal declaration I had to give was that in order to protect the good name of the Guild of One Name Studies I had to state that I would reply to all enquiries within a reasonable time and in a polite manner. I have always tried my hardest to do these, so to me, no big deal. Time consuming? That's the nature of family history - So many relatives! So little time!

 

I know this infuriates a lot of people. I think it is a balancing act between spreading the story and respecting copyright. It isn't more of a problem inside or outside the Guild though is it.

That was a drastic step to take. Did you find it a difficult decision to make. Presumably all websites will have a finite lifetime. Retaining the information they contained is a problem. I think places like the Society of Genealogists let you deposit your researches with them don't they? I don't know about the Guild of One Name Studies. I worry about what will happen to my site when I can no longer run it.

I don't think it will be any safer than on your own website. People can still take what you say and use it elsewhere without your permission.

I am sure the benefits of the Guild are similar to belonging to any family history society or community like Lost Cousins. I was thinking more about the specific advantages relating to a one name study.

They also say....

members who register a surname with the Guild as a one-name study accept the following broad principles in relation to it:

• that the study will be global in scope

• that it will include research within countries where the name is relatively significant and where sources of genealogical data are readily available

• that it will research and store data available in core genealogical datasets and transcriptions

• that it stores and may research other data where the surname is mentioned

It is a huge undertaking surely. UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Scotland etc etc. All those subscriptions to get at the data!

Although they also say

which seems to contradict everything else. i.e. you can do what you want!

 

I respect your individual right to form your own opinions and in which we completely differ. I read your observations and thank you for your kind suggestions. Your answer to my below comment speaks volumes.

 

You've lost me.

 

It is extremely easy to start a One Name Study - it's very difficult to stop! I was trying to find my 3x great grandfather and started looking for people with that name in the locality. Somehow, it became an addiction! I think it is probably better to think about it before you start and makes your choices (for database etc) accordingly - rather than drift into it like I did.

The more unusual the name, the easier it is in some respects, but on the other hand the more likely it is that the name will be mis-transcribed - so you have to be creative in your searches.

You don't have to join the GOONS - I've found their email list has some very knowledgeable people (just like this forum!) and their regional meetings have been extremely useful for me. I am not aware of any requirements in the GOONS about publishing - you choose what and how to publish your data, with all the usual risks attached.

Personally I wish more people would publish data (ONS or otherwise) - there are ways to make it more secure, but you can never stop someone determined. I would strongly encourage being on the web, either a website or perhaps social media to get the younger generation, as I continue to get good contacts this way. But you have to be careful. I have a contact form, rather than just putting up my email address - spam harvesters love the latter. I'm just at this moment finalising a presentation for a Guild Regional Meeting on having your own website.

If Carla (or anyone else) wants to contact me, either on forum or off it, about a One Name Study, I'm happy to offer opinions and help

 

Mike - please update your profile page - I want to look at your website!

The global responsibility is something the GOONS make quite a bit of play about before you join, but when you look at a few of the members you start wondering whether they do any enforcement of this. Once you get started, the temptation to look worldwide is too hard to resist! I cannot disagree with your view that the GOONS are no longer vital, but there's some good knowledge and advice in there.

 

Hi Andy.

My site and info is all there on my profile. Did you click the Information tab?

 

Doh! I clicked a couple of empty tabs but not that one.
Off to browse your site now.

 

I went and had a look too you have done a lot of work and it is very interesting. Realistically i know i just have not got time to do anything like that at the moment. I am struggling to research my ancestors at the moment, let alone attempt to do a web page. One day i will do iot...and hopefully with my son, once he get's interested!!

 

It has taken about a year to enter what is there. I find it does help me to keep organised. Everytime I learn something new it goes straight onto the website. No more endless scraps of paper!

 

I am also a member of the Guild. I am researching a name that is not even in my personal tree! I helped a friend with his tree and once I found the unusual name in his tree I knew it was asking me to carry out a one name study I don't feel under any pressure from the Guild to publish a newsletter. I am researching the name worldwide, have a website and still have lots of events to enter into TMG. I always answer queries within 24 hours but to be honest I have not had many yet.

This all reminds me that I must have lots of people to enter here at Lost Cousins, ooops.

 

Sue, I didn't feel under pressure to do a newsletter, but went to a Regional Meeting where the benefits were explained, so I did one. IMHO a good thing to do, as you have something concrete to send to potential contacts, and it shows you're not just a name collector. Then contacts send it to their contacts etc. I sent it to a couple of people who didn't respond initially, but did respond positively after receiving the second one. It helps your credibility. Do you have your own website? That's also been very good for getting contacts. And the GOONS Ancestry blog features are good - have you done one?

 

I have a website. I have done a profile on the GOONS site. I have not ventured into blog land yet. I feel I might feel pressured to blog at least once a week.

I get results when I make the first contact with people with "my" name.

 

Ah, no! The blogging is Ancestry's. Bob Cumberbatch is collecting examples for them. You'd only do the one.
Here's the link. Are you going to update your profile on here so we can look at your website?

 

I have updated my profile now. I am very much the new girl here and still finding my way round.

Hmm Ancestry I am not a big fan. I will think about the blog.