Helping Our Reader Sort Same and Similar Names
Researching family members with same and similar names is a challenge. So is identifying and setting aside records and identities of individuals NOT related to us, but whose names are confused with our kinfolk.
It can be tricky writing about these people. And sometimes it can be confusing reading about them.
There can be many reasons we see so many relatives with the same name, even in the same generation. For example, following the practice of honoring a parent, a specific person (i.e. “Jacob Roth”) had five sons, and each of them named one of their sons “Jacob Roth.” You can imagine the challenge of correctly connecting their records to each of these five grandsons who all lived about the same time and near each other.
So, what’s a researcher/writer to do when we’re not sure if records identify one person—or perhaps multiple people with same or similar names? How can we make it easier to identify and set aside information about individuals who are unrelated or who are not the focus of our writing projects? And how can we make it easier for our readers—including other researchers—to keep same- or similar-named kin and other individuals sorted?
The family history writers group I attend often discusses the “same-and-similar-name-conundrum” as it crops up in our various family history projects. Some effective solutions we’ve used with our writing projects include adding (1) lists or graphics and/or (2) identifiers.
Add lists or graphics
- Make a list while researching family members with same and similar names. This list will help you keep individuals straight while researching and writing about them. Including your list in your document may also help your reader.
- Example: in a family history focused on a set of great-great-grandparents, I ran into 11 occurrences of two or three individuals with the same or similar names. In the document’s introduction, I provided the readers with this heads up: “You’ll find multiples of family members named:
- Abijah Ripley (2),
- Alcena Ripley (3),
- Ann Parsons (3),
- Arthur Parsons (3),
- Charles Tulley (3),
- Elizabeth Loucks (3),
- Elizabeth Parsons (2),
- John Parsons (3),
- Lydia Ripley (2),
- Mary Parsons (2), and
- William Ripley (2).”
- Example: in a family history focused on a set of great-great-grandparents, I ran into 11 occurrences of two or three individuals with the same or similar names. In the document’s introduction, I provided the readers with this heads up: “You’ll find multiples of family members named:
- Add vital information to lists and/or explanations of relationships for the reader’s benefit.
- Example: I wanted to help the reader understand what it had taken me some time to figure out. I added to the narrative: “During the years this family history spans, the Ripley nuclear family contained three females named Alcena:
- Alcena (Davis) Ripley (1822-1849): William Henry Ripley, Sr’s 1st wife
- Alcena Davis Ripley (1849-1849): 7th child of William Henry Ripley, Sr, and his 1st wife, Alcena (Davis) Ripley
- Alcena Susan (Ripley) Draper Parsons (1851-1938): William Henry Ripley Sr’s 9th child, and Louisa (Butler) Ripley’s 2nd child. This third Alcena is at the heart of my Ripley/Parsons family history.”
- Example: I wanted to help the reader understand what it had taken me some time to figure out. I added to the narrative: “During the years this family history spans, the Ripley nuclear family contained three females named Alcena:
- Give readers handy references. Possibilities include adding a pedigree chart, family group sheet, or using a numbering system such as an ahnentafel chart.[1] Place these references wherever you think it will make the most sense to the reader. Maybe at the beginning of your document? Throughout the narrative? Or in an appendix? In family histories that cover several generations or more, these types of references might help some of your readers “see” where the same or similar named individuals fit in.
- Include a simplified family tree tailored to the scope of your document or the point you’re making. Sometimes it’s appropriate to include an image of a family tree showing parents and children. But if you’re discussing only part of the family members, a simplified tree might better explain the point you’re making. We can further help the reader by explaining what they’re looking at. For instance, the simplified tree may include only direct ancestors—or not including all of a couple’s children.
- Include a title (above) or caption (below) so your reader is clear about what the tree includes—or what it doesn’t.
- Example: in another section of the family history focused on my great-great grandmother, I created an image and placed it below the following title:
Simplified Tree
Highlighting Three Family Members Named Alcena Ripley
Between 1822 and 1938
Add identifiers
- Generational suffixes may help you—and your readers—sort family members.
- Example: Including the names of father and son named “Arthur Parsons” and another father and son named “William Ripley” added too much ambiguity into a family history. I therefore consistently added “Sr” or “Jr” suffixes designations to help me—and the reader—avoid confusion. However, I let the reader know I’d found only one official record that included a suffix with any of these four men’s names.
- Caveat: Suffixes can be helpful to readers. Yet, realize that a man identified as “junior” may also eventually name a child after himself.
- Birth order can show when parents named a child after an earlier one who had already passed away.
- Example: For two sisters, I used “first Mary” and “second Mary” as identifiers.
- Middle names can help differentiate two people.
- Example: In the above instance, I didn’t find a middle name for “first Mary,” but I found a middle name for “second Mary.” The parents of “second Mary” named her “Mary Elizabeth” after two of her sisters who had passed before she was born. In the family history document, I introduced this female as “second Mary.” I also provided her full given name and consistently used “Mary Elizabeth”—unless quoting or citing records that listed her as Mary E.
- Maiden names can help us untangle the identities of similar named individuals.
- Example: Alcena (Davis) Ripley’s last child was named Alcena Davis Ripley. I enclosed the mother’s maiden name in parentheses. Or, I could have used “Alcena Ripley, née Davis” to indicate the mother’s maiden name.
- Birth and death dates in parentheses are especially useful when the reader might easily confuse different generations.
- Example: “Alcena (Davis) Ripley (1822-1849) died giving birth to her last child, Alcena Davis Ripley (1849-1849). Both mother and daughter died the same day.”
- Birth and/or death locations can help us identify individuals.
- Example: “We may find additional records from the 1860s about a ‘Peter Parson/s’ from Muscatine County, Iowa who served in the Union Army. Those records probably referred to the Peter Parson/s who was born about 1841 in Sweden and died in 1864 while serving in the military during the Civil War. Whereas our Peter Parsons was born the same year—but in England. He did not serve in the military. He survived the war years, married Alcena Susan (Ripley) Draper in 1877, and together they did their part in populating and perpetuating our family tree.”
- Include ages and/or relationships in the narrative.
- Example: “At age 10, Peter immigrated to the US alongside his parents, Arthur, Sr, (age 49) and Ann (45) and Peter’s four surviving siblings. These included Peter’s older brothers, Arthur, Jr, (about 20) and John (13); and younger sisters, Mary Elizabeth (8) and Julia (5).”
- Claim them as our own. Identifying “my” or “our” relatives separates them from those who share a same or similar name but who are not related to us by birth or marriage.
- Example: “Our John Parsons, who served with Company I, 35th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, should not be confused with:
- John Parsons who served in Company B and Company K, 8th Regiment, New Hampshire Infantry.
- John Parsons, Company K, 50th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry.
- These three same-named men were among more than 180 listings under “John Parson/s” who served in the Union or Confederate armies. (The National Park Service’s Civil War database[2] listing of names may include duplicates to account for the same person transferring from one military unit to another. Even so, a heck of a lot of men named John Parsons served during the Civil War.)
- Example: “Our John Parsons, who served with Company I, 35th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, should not be confused with:
- Include footnotes or endnotes. Sometimes seeing names in citations along with events, dates, and locations will reinforce the reader’s ability to sort same-named individuals.
- In your genealogical research, what other techniques have you used to sort the identities of family members—or other individuals—with the same or similar names?
- How have you helped your reader understand and keep from confusing the identities of family members—or unrelated individuals—who have the same or similar names?
- While reading family histories, what techniques did writers use that helped you understand and keep straight the identity of individuals with the same or similar names?
- What software do you prefer to make images to add to documents? What file format do you use to save these images (e.g., .jpeg)?
- What helpful tips do you have for FamilyStoryTree visitors that might help them research and write about individuals with same and similar names?
[1] Drew Smith, “Genealogical Numbering Systems and How to Use Them,” a version of this article appeared in Family Tree Magazine, May/June 2021. Digital version at familytreemagazine.com, last updated September 2022 to reflect the death of Queen Elizabeth II and a change to Prince William’s title, familytreemagazine.com (https://familytreemagazine.com/organization/genealogy-numbering-systems/ : accessed 14 Mar 2025).
[2] National Park Service, Civil War, “Search for Soldiers,” database, nps.gov (https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers.htm : accessed 24 Mar 2025).
[3] “Iowa, US, Select Marriages Index, 1758-1996,” Elizabeth Loucks and Arthur Parsons, 09 Aug 1862, Muscatine County, Iowa, Index, Ancestry, database online, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60284/records/510603 : accessed 03 Feb 2025).
[4] “England, Select Deaths and Burials 1838-1991,” Elizabeth Parsons, burial, 19 Nov 1841, Cuckfield, Sussex, England, Index Ancestry, database online, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9840/records/10153340 : accessed 03 Feb 2025).
[5] “Iowa, US, Select Marriages Index, 1758-1996, Mary E Parsons and P H Loucks, 07 Oct 1869, Clinton County, Iowa, Index, Ancestry, database online, ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60284/records/4669365 : accessed 03 Feb 2025).