Results of Grandparents' Surname Searches at FamilySearch Full Text Search for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

For Saturday Night Genealogy Fun this week, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings suggested this:

How many "Wills" for your grandparents' or great-grandparents' surnames are on the FamilySearch Full Text Search feature (see https://www.familysearch.org/search/full-text)?

I finished my list then realized that lists may contain results for much more than wills.  FamilySearch has expanded this collection so the results may include the following:  Legal Records, Censuses, Religious Records, Genealogies, Funeral Home Records, Miscellaneous Records, Military Records, Periodicals, School Records, Vital Records, Business Records, Government Records, Reference Materials, Voting Records, Migration Records, and Medical Records. 

I didn't go back to narrow the results to only wills so my results include all of the records FamilySearch found for each surname.

These are the results for my grandparents' and great-grandparents' surnames.

• Doyle:  350,391 results
• Gerner:  4,314 results
• Meinzen:  63 results
• Bickerstaff:  4356 results
• Froman:  13,413
• Bartley:  79,132
• Armitage:  30,570
• Thompson:  3,374,976

And these are the results for my second and third great-grandparents' surnames.

• Laws:  3,374,976
• Saylor:  8,497,986
• Stahl:  47,367
• Smith:  11,710,373
• Hartley:  158,093
• Nelson:  2,200,328
• Bell:  2,835,995

I admit I was surprised at the high number of results for some of these surnames.  Talk about common names!  Thank goodness I can narrow the results by adding a first name; by country, state, and county; or by kind of record.

Thanks for the fun, Randy.
—Nancy.

Copyright © 2024 Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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Surname Saturday - Bickerstaff

This week a friend sent me the link to a post titled The Origins and Meanings of Ashkenazic Last Names at Jewish Currents.  The author, Bennett Muraskin, briefly reviews how and when Jews living in Eastern Europe were forced to take on last names.  The history surrounding that change was interesting to me but more interesting was his discussion of how those last names were chosen.  As I read through his list and examples I realized that at some time in the past every family who now has a surname had to choose or be given one.  After all, Adam and Eve and other early humans didn't have surnames.

Mr. Muraskin's list of how surnames were chosen is below, minus his examples (go to the post to read those)

A peaceful-looking shepherd --
probably not a Bickerstaff

• patronymics (son of ....)
• matronymics (daughter of ....)
• place names
• occupational names (craftsmen/workers; merchants; related to tailoring; medical; related to liquor trade; religious communal)
• personal traits
• insulting names
• animal names
• Hebrew names
• Hebrew acronyms
• other Hebrew- and Yiddish-derived names
• invented "Fancy Shmancy" Names

While I was reading his list of names associated with personal traits I thought of my most interesting surname among those I've researched:

Bickerstaff

Now, can't you just imagine my quarrelsome, angry ancestor holding his shepherd's staff high, ready to take a quick swing at another shepherd as they argue over the ownership of a sheep standing between them?

But wait!  Let's see what other definitions there are of "bicker."  Dictionary.com tells me it also means  to run rapidly, move quickly, rush, hurry.  Webster's 1828 dictionary echoes these definitions.  Could my Bickerstaff ancestor have been a speedy runner in earnest to save his sheep from danger?

Chances are I'll never know, but it sure is fun to imagine the possibilities.

How about you?  What's your most interesting ancestor surname and its definition?  Do you know how the name was chosen?

Photo Credit:  Creative Commons via PhotoPin:  Waiting for the Word 

--Nancy.
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Surnames and Variations #3

These are some of the surnames I'm researching in my family history.  (You can see a complete list on the sidebar to the left.)  I periodically update the list as I see more name variations and find more ancestors.  Below each surname are the spelling variations, the dates found in records, and the location where the ancestor lived at the time or where the record was recorded. 

ARMITAGE (Abel, Elizabeth)

• Armitage - 1841-1861 Yorkshire, U.K. Censuses; 1880 U.S. Census
• Harmatage - 1870 U.S. Census, Steubenville, Jefferson, Ohio
• Armiddage - 1874 final naturalization record, Jefferson County, Ohio
• Armatage - 1875-76 Steubenville (Jefferson County, Ohio) City Directory

BARTLEY (Dixon/Dickson)

• Bartley - 1850-1880 U.S. Census,  Parker Township, Butler, Pennsylvania
• Bartly - 1900 Will of Dixon Bartley, Butler County, Pennsylvania

 BELL (Jacob, Lydia/Lidda, Cruson/Crewson)

• Bell - 1850, 1870, 1880 U.S. Census, Wells Township, Jefferson County, Ohio

BICKERSTAFF (Augustine, William, Ellis, Edward Jesse, Emma)

• Bickerstaff - early 1800s-present, Jefferson, Mahoning, & Trumbull Counties, Ohio
• Biggerstaff - (Ellis) 1890-1907, Civil War Pension File; Jefferson, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties, Ohio; Alleghany and Westmoreland Counties, Pennsylvania

DOYLE (Andrew, William, Gust, Lee)

• Doyle - Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Northumberland, England - most commonly-found spelling across all research
• Doile - (Andrew) 1880 U.S. Census; (Lee) 1940 U.S. Census, Mineral Ridge, Trumbull, Ohio
• Doyl - (William) 1940 U.S. Census, Stoneboro, Mercer, Pennsylvania

FROMAN (John, Catherine, Tressa)

• Frommann - 1856 passenger list, Mercer County, Pennsylvania
• Fromann - 1860 U.S. Census, Mercer County, Pennsylvania
• Fromman -1868 transcription of Tressa's baptismal record, Mercer County, Pennsylvania
• Fromer - 1870 U.S. Census, Mercer County, Pennsylvania

GERNER (Christian, Fredrick)

• Gerner - (Frederick) 1880, U.S. Census, Scott District, Putnam County, West Virginia; 1900-1920 U.S. Census, Mercer and Butler Counties, Pennsylvania
• Gener - (Frederick) 1926, Pennsylvania Death Certificate Index, Butler County, Pennsylvania
• Gardner - (Christian) 1860, 1870 U.S. Census, Fairview Twp., Butler County, Pennsylvania
• Garner - (Christian) 1880 U.S. Census, Fairview Twp., Butler County, Pennsylvania

HARTLEY (Richard, Eliza)

• Hartley - (Richard, Eliza) 1813 baptismal record, St. Peter's Church, Bradford, Yorkshire, England

MEINZEN (Henry Carl)

• Minson - 1870 U.S. Census, Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio
• Minzen - 1880 U.S. Census, Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio
• Mincin - 1920 U.S. Census, Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio
• Meinzer - 1926, obituary in The Steubenville Herald Star, December 30, 1925

--Nancy.
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Surname Variations

These are some of the surnames I'm researching in my family history. I will continue to update this list as I work on different families.

Below each surname are the spelling variations, the dates found in records, and the location where the ancestor lived at the time.

ARMITAGE (Abel, Elizabeth)

• Armitage - 1841-1861 Yorkshire, U.K. Censuses; 1880 U.S. Census
• Harmatage - 1870 U.S. Census, Steubenville, Jefferson, Ohio
• Armiddage - 1874 final naturalization record, Jefferson County, Ohio
• Armatage - 1875-76 Steubenville (Jefferson County, Ohio) City Directory
  

BICKERSTAFF (Augustine, William, Ellis, Edward Jesse, Emma)

• Bickerstaff - early 1800s-present, Jefferson, Mahoning, & Trumbull Counties, Ohio
• Biggerstaff - (Ellis) 1890-1907, Civil War Pension File; Jefferson, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties, Ohio; Alleghany and Westmoreland Counties, Pennsylvania
  

GERNER

• Gener - 1926 - Pennsylvania Death Certificate Index, Butler County, Pennsylvania