Family Name Origin

See if any of these methods of searching for your family name origin sound familiar:

  • By locating a Family Name Origin Website, which provides 'historical information'
  • By looking for your family name in books or genealogical records (usually in libraries)
  • By traveling to your ancestors' place of origin in order to learn more about your family name origin

The three solutions mentioned above, seem to be the 'standard solutions' for those who are looking for their family name origin.  However, as many readers will know from experience, these solutions can be faulty.

The first solution is often inaccurate and lacks substantial facts and references.  The second solution is time consuming and the answers never seem to be specific enough.  The third solution probably reaps the most long-term rewards, but is often expensive, and often leads only to vague conclusions.

There is only one solution that is both inexpensive and time efficient . That solution is online collaboration through OneGreatFamily.com.

The OneGreatFamily Database and Collaboration Features
The best way to find a family name origin is to collaborate with others who have the information that you are looking for.  But how do you find them?  The truth is that Internet access and increased database capacity allow us to communicate with others and compare information that was nearly impossible to compare only a few short years ago.  The OneGreatFamily genealogical database allows members to do just this.

A OneGreatFamily Scenario
For example, let's imagine for a moment that you decide to submit your pedigree chart information to the OneGreatFamily database.  You then sit back and relax, as OneGreatFamily searches and sifts through millions of names contributed by thousands of members from over 80 countries worldwide.  OneGreatFamily locates the matches to your family tree, and merges these matches with your pedigree chart.  You are then free to approve and review these matches and relax once again as OneGreatFamily continues to search through new contributions.

A Collaboration Scenario
OneGreatFamily also allows you to collaborate with the same people who provided matches to your own family tree.  Many of these members have access to pertinent information such as death records, family name histories, biographies, lineage information, additional surname history information, etc. Many of these members are also more than willing to share the information which they have collected over the years.

Ancestor Search

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  • Photos
  • Biographies
  • Histories
  • Country Origin
  • Alternate Spellings
  • Number of Generations
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—Jeff Bagley
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