Naming the Unnamed

[LauraV]

I would like to know how genealogists handle the naming of unnamed ancestors, or using place markers, such as _____, _____ or _____, [husband's last name] to recognize the unnamed.

[KirkS]

Personally, I don't care for the underscores because they're sometime difficult to see (when content is underlined, or in a spreadsheet format, etc.).

The most important part is that you be consistent with your choice. Using UNKNOWN is fairly common among genealogists in my local society. I've never had any problems using brackets in GEDCOM files, so I personally use <Unknown> which causes those names to sort at the top of an alphabetical list, rather than with the Ungers and Urqharts.

So.. Unknown, [Unknown], <Unknown>, etc. would be my suggestion. But again, above all, just be consistent.

[LauraV]

Thank you very much, Kirk. I really like your answer. Do you use [Unknown] once or twice (once for first name and last name, if no names are known)?

[SGilbert]

So.. Unknown, [Unknown], <Unknown>, etc. would be my suggestion. But again, above all, just be consistent.

As an Unger, I take offence! NOT!
Anyhow, I just use ? Simple, explains the situation, and is on top of the alphabetical list

[LauraV]

Well, thank you! That’s a quick and efficient method!

[eventide]

And I just leave the fields blank for any unknown names. Looks like you have some good choices.

[LauraV]

I want to thank all of you folks. I started doing genealogy in 1967 while I was on maternity leave with my first child. Back then it took me longer to fill out a family sheet by hand than it did to do the research to find the information!

By the way, I'm going with ?.

[bmohr]

I think the "best practice" is to leave unknown fields empty.

That being said, I completely understand the desire to have some sort of placeholder. I would just caution everyone not to use anything that could even remotely be misconstrued as an actual name. So not UNKNOWN or unknown, not LNU/MNU/FNU (last/middle/first name unknown), not UNK, etc. Pretty much anything that's a simple string of characters, no matter the capitalization, is out. It may seem perfectly clear to you, but - to borrow a phrase - no genealogist is an island. You never know how someone else might interpret your placeholder.

[theKiwi]

I use Miss/Mister for the first name if you know the gender you can choose one, and [--?--] for the surname since it is clearly not a word, whereas far too many programmes and sites assume that "Unknown" is actually a name.

Roger

[suem]

Hi Roger , this is something different hope you don't mind me looking at your Moffatt website as I have Fletcher marring a Robert Moffatt and some of my family has your Robert Moffatt who died in. 1933 and my died in 1896 I like to let them know so they can fix their family tree on Ancestry if it ok with you Susan Tutin

[theKiwi]

Hi Roger , this is something different hope you don't mind me looking at your Moffatt website as I have Fletcher marring a Robert Moffatt and some of my family has your Robert Moffatt who died in. 1933 and my died in 1896

I'm not sure what you're saying here - my great grandfather died in 1933 - that is true, but I'm not sure what 1896 has to do with this?

I like to let them know so they can fix their family tree on Ancestry if it ok with you Susan Tutin

I long ago gave up trying to keep track of what people post on Ancestry, so tell them to go for it if they think it's right.

Roger

[suem]

Roger My great aunty Married a Robert Moffatt who died in 1896 different Robert Moffatt to your great grandfather thanks for your reply

[KirkS]

For those of you advocating BLANKS, please explain how you would handle this situation in Reunion...

I have two brothers, Absalom and Clemmons Hooper but I do not know the identities of their parents.

How would I put those two brothers in the same family using only blanks? If I create a parent for them, leaving all fields blank, Reunion will give that parent the label UNKNOWN (all caps).

[Bob White]

Kirk: I have two sets like that.... one with five children and the other with three children. Since I'm sure of the last name, I created a father with the known last name and used the abbreviation TBD for the first name. For the mother, I use Unknown for the first name and leave the last name blank so that it shows at or close to the top of the People sidebar. Just one of many ideas.

[KirkS]

Thanks Bob.