How to Find the History of My Last Name

Geneaology

Have you ever wondered where your last name came from? What its meaning is? What your Family Crest looks like? I did.

Here are a few tools that I used to find out more about my family name and history, I hope they will help you in your search, too.

Things You'll Need

• Internet
• Older Relatives
• Old Family Records
• Time
• Patience

Instructions

1. 

   The very first place that you may want to start is with the older relatives in your family. They can tell you everything that they know about the origin of your last name and also any history that they have learned from their grandparents before them.

   Your older relatives may also have family records that you can look at for more clues. Family Bibles are a great resource as often times, there are hand written family trees inside of them. Ask if you can make copies, or they may even loan you everything or let you have them, since they are probably interested in learning more, too.

2. 

   Visit Ancestry.com and sign up for their free 14 day trial membership. You can learn a lot in 14 days, especially if you have extra free time in that time frame. Ancestry.com also allows you to email other members with any questions that you may have, which is also a great resource. With their membership, you can view many documents online as well, which is so cool. When I was looking up my family's history, I was able to view passenger lists from the ships that they rode on to get to The United States of America, how neat is that?

   Also with Ancestry.com, you can search for family members' names and you may just find that a distant relative has already done some of the research for you. For these and many more reasons, I highly recommend Ancestry.com. (Link is listed below, under Resources).

3. 

   For more information on the meaning and origin of your last name, try House of Names website. Type in your last name in the upper left-hand corner and see if a Crest and origin page pop up for your last name.

   Then, for even more information about your Family Crest, go to Fleurdelis.com. This site tells you about the meaning of the colors and symbols on your Family Crest.

4. 

   If you are African-American, finding your family heritage may be difficult, due to slavery. I found a great article that tells you where you can start on your journey to learn more about your heritage at: http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/Working-Backward/ (Link is also listed below). You can also try Ancestry.com's African American Family History section for more information.

5. I hope you have found some inspiration to seek out the heritage and meaning of your family's last name. Best wishes!

Tips & Warnings

• If you plan a visit to your ancestors' home towns overseas, try checking the local libraries, city halls, churches, synagogues or other places of worship for any records of births, marriages or deaths.

• Before purchasing any information over the Internet, make sure to research that company's integrity.

Resources

• Ancestry.com
• House of Names
• Fleur de Lis.com
• Family Tree Magazine : Find Slave Ancestors
• Ancestry.com : African American Family History
• Book: The Family Tree Problem Solver: Proven Methods for Scaling the Inevitable Brick Wall