Finding Your Family on Census Records Through Ancestry.com

by Dorris Douglass, Special Collections Librarian

Use of Ancestry.com is free In the Special Collections Department and to help you use it, here are some very important tips to remember.

• Pay absolutely no attention to spelling! Census takers couldn’t spell. This researcher has seen the name Jacob spelled “Jacup” on the census.
• Pay close attention to extra people with a different last name in a household. Frequently those listed as “boarder” were aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and especially mothers-in-law.
• Pay close attention to who is living next door. The guys either married the gal next door or their first cousin. This researcher looked for an ancestor for 10 years only to find him living next door to a grandson by a different last name.
• Be aware that ages recorded in the census can be 2 to 3 years off. However, usually the younger the closer to the truth. By the time one got to their 80’s either he or his family members had forgotten how old he really was.
• Know the abbreviations for Men’s first names: Alexr= Alexander, Benj = Benjamin, Geo =George, Hy=Henry, Jas = James, Jno =John ( Why I have no idea), Patk=Patrick, Robt= Robert Thos=Thomas, Wm=William. The last letter of the longer abbreviation are usually written as a superscripts, so that you might see only the Tho for Thomas unless you look carefully for the little tiny s. Periods were usually omitted after the abbreviation.
• Know common nicknames and know that nicknames often rhyme. Some are very tricky.
  • Belle=Isabel, Mable, Sybil;
  • Beth, Betty, Betsy, Bessie =Elizabeth;
  • Biddy, Bridey= Bridget;
  • Bill = William, rhymes with Will;
  • Cal=Caleb, Calvin;
  • Cate (old spelling) =Catherine;
  • Carrie= Carololine;
  • Carey= Charles (modern nickname Chuck);
  • Cephus=Josephus;
  • Daisey = Margaret ( for a Queen Margaret whose favorite flower was a daisy);
  • Dick = Richard, rhymes with Rick;
  • Dollie, Dolly, Doll = Dorothy;
  • Duke=Marmaduke;
  • Ed, Ned, Ted =Edward, Edmond;
  • Elsie= Elizabeth:
  • Ella, Ellie, Nelly = Elle , but also Helen;
  • Etta, Nettie = Henrietta;
  • Fee = Felix;
  • Hi = Hiram,
  • Jack = John;
  • Kit = Christopher,
  • Lois= Louise,
  • Lottie = Charlotte;
  • Ky = Hezekiah;
  • Mae, May, Molly, Polly =Mary;
  • Mag, Maggie, Meg, Peg, Peggy = Margaret;
  • Mattie, Patty, Patsy = Martha;
  • Maud =Magdalene,
  • Maude (male) = Mordichi;
  • Nancy=Hannah,
  • Neil, Connie,=Cornelius;
  • Sallie, Sally = Sarah,
  • Stella = Estel, Esther;
  • Sukey ,Susan, = Susannah (Suckey, African American 1870/ 80 = a former slave midwife who took care of the sucklings);
  • Ted = Theodore (but can be = Edward).

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