[Glossary of Common Genealogy Terms]
Having trouble making heads or tails of granny’s family bible? Are probate records leaving you lost? Can’t tell a duchess from a dauphine?
Never fear! Here’s a handy list of common terms you may run across when researching your family history. Click here for a list of common abbreviations.
Affidavit
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Ahnentafel
(noun) It is the German word for “Ancestor Table”. A genealogical numbering system for listing a person's direct ancestors in a family tree. For example, the home person in a tree is assigned #1, their parents are #2 and #3, grandparents are #4, #5, #6, #7, great grandparents are #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, etc. This makes it easy to identify ancestors and cross-reference them across materials.
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Ancestor
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Annotation
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Aunt
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Bastard
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Bequeath
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Bond
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Brigade
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Burgermeister
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Cavalry
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Cemetery Records
Cenotaph
(noun) A tomblike monument to a person or group of persons buried elsewhere. Often erected commemorating people who died in acts of war or disasters.
Shown at right: The Cenotaph at the Alamo in San Antonio, TX.
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Census
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Christian Name
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Church Records
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Codicil
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Common Ancestor
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Confederacy
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Consort
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Cousin
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Dauphine
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Descendant
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Descendant Chart
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DNA
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Duchess
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Duke
Emigrant
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Emigrate
(noun) To leave one country to live and settle in another. A person emigrates when they leave, and becomes an immigrant when they arrive at their new destination.
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Epitaph
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Family Group Sheet
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Familyphile
Freeman
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Freedman
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Fortnight
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GEDCOM
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Generation
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Grand- (mother, father, aunt, etc)
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Grantee
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Grantor
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Great- (grandparent, granduncle, etc.)
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Guardian
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Heir
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Heir Apparent
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Homestead
Immigrant
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Knave
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Knight
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Landed Gentry
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Maiden Name
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Maternal
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Militia
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Mortality Schedule
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Mulatto
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Naturalization
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Nee
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Nephew
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Niece
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Obituary
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Parish
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Paternal
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Paternity
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Pedigree
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Pedigree Chart
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Peerage
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Posthumous
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Power of Attorney
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Probate
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Progenitor
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Quadroon
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Slave Schedule
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Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
Soundex
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Sponsor
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Step-(brother, father, etc.)
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Surname
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Township
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Uncle
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Unprobated Will
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Unsolemn Will
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Vestry
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