Registration Recommendations

The Guild recognises that a one-name study can represent a considerable amount of work, and recommends that members registering a surname with us should have already collected a reasonable body of data on the surname, or at least sufficient to establish an understanding of what the proposed study will entail; in particular, the expected size and extent of the study, what variants of the study name exist, and the likely geographical areas to which research should be directed.

We consider that the following types of data, which are normally easily accessible via the internet or on CD, would represent a significant start to a one-name study:

A survey to establish the size of the proposed study, the countries that will need to be considered, and the surname variants that should be included. Any easily accessible national Census, for example the British 1881 Census or its equivalent for other countries if available, will give a good indication of the numbers involved and the geographical distribution of the name at the period when the Census was taken.
A significant collection of births, marriages and deaths from whatever indexes are available. For UK studies, this would be expected to include the entries in FreeBMD. (FreeBMD is a website that provides, free, on-line, an increasing number of Civil Registration index entries for England and Wales.)
A significant collection of entries from the International Genealogical Index (IGI). (This worldwide index, mainly of baptisms and marriages, is freely available online, but varies in its coverage from place to place. Researchers making use of the IGI should note that, where the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) has extracted data from parish registers, this is generally reliable; although information supplied to it by individuals can be notoriously inaccurate. The LDS also make available (mostly on CD) their Vital Record Indexes for various countries, which consist exclusively of extractions from Parish Registers. Again, the coverage varies by place. For Scotland, there is the similar but much more comprehensive - and reliable - Old Parochial Register Index.)
Indexes to easily available published national censuses: for instance, for studies with a UK focus, the indexes to the 1881 and 1901 Censuses, or the equivalent in the country concerned.

Much of this information is now available not only on microfilm or microfiche but also on CD or the Internet. Even if you do not have a home connection, you can still access the internet via the facilities in almost all public libraries. This should enable you to make a start on your one-name study, sufficient to show your readiness and preparedness to become the expert on your chosen name.