Registration criteria

It is the Registrar's responsibility to ensure the validity and viability of surname registration applications. The Registrar may decline an application for registration if, after consulting with others as appropriate, it is deemed to be unsuitable. When examining registration applications, the Registrar considers whether:

The likely size of the study is within the resources of the applicant;
Variants proposed for the study are reasonable and derived from the main study name;
The study and/or its variants do not overlap with an existing study.

If the Registrar has any concerns about the registration application, the applicant will be consulted and changes suggested, for example to the names or variants proposed.

For registration,

The name or names must not be currently registered to another member;
Each member can have up to three registered surnames (although it is strongly recommended that only one name is registered initially);
For each surname, members can register the main name plus up to five variants;
Members should only register true variants and not "deviants" of a main surname (see the page on Variants and deviants for definitions);
Members should only register a variant if they are studying it fully;
Where a name has more than five variants, we recommend that members register the five that are most common now.

Registered names are allocated to categories (A, B, or C) based on the extent of data collection and other criteria. (These categories are described under "Registering a ONS" in the "one-name study" part of this website.) The Guild relies on you to choose the appropriate category for each new surname you register, with reference to the depth of study achieved at the time of registration. You are welcome to seek the advice of the Registrar if in doubt. If an A-category is being sought (for which a fully-constituted One-Name Society is a condition), then please provide the Registrar with a copy of the Constitution and details of the Officers of the Society.