Ancestry Magazine

We have all heard it said—statistics can be manipulated to reinforce a desired message. But any historian can tell you there’s another side to statistics: those same numbers can also be the evidence needed to support conclusions and theories.

How does that relate to the family historian? Statistics can help us develop research strategies that make us more efficient at finding our families. And, better still, more personalized statistics—including ones about a specific surname—can focus research even further.

Factually Speaking
Maybe you’ve seen it before when searching records at Ancestry.com—a Did You Know linked to your search results. Click on it and you’ll find more than just fun trivia for the next family gathering—you’ll find valuable Family Facts.

The Family Facts feature at Ancestry.com provides ten surname-specific statistics. Some numbers appear in tables, others in graphs, and still more are set out in shaded maps. All Family Facts are drawn from information found in Ancestry.com collections, and most are interactive, meaning that when selected, the Family Fact links you directly to the database search that created the Fact.

Most Family Facts reports include prompts that assist you in determining what to do with the information, answering questions like How is this helpful? and What do I do next? Each Family Fact also offers an explanation of the statistical information provided.

Know Where They’re Coming From
Many genealogists begin the search for an ancestor without knowing much more than a surname and country of origin. While conducting a search in a large online database like Ancestry.com for such an ancestor can be a good way to start, sorting through page after page of search results may be overwhelming.

In a situation like this, gathering additional information, like that presented in Family Facts, can help reduce or sort through some of the possibilities. In addition, when a search returns no positive results, Family Facts can also help by providing other tactics.

If you have already found an ancestor of interest, say in a census return or an immigration record, use the Family Facts to add more depth to your write-up of that ancestor. How did he or she compare to the statistics? Was the ancestor an early immigrant? Was this the family member who brought the rest of the family to America or did this ancestor arr ive long after everyone else? Decide if the unique Family Facts can lead you to answers or ideas you hadn’t sought before.

And if you haven’t yet found the ancestor—or you’re not sure where to begin—consider using the Family Facts as direction for gathering background details. Using Family Facts, you can perform a series of searches with the range of years and geographic parameters set to mirror the statistics.

Learning Experience
There are Family Facts that relate to a surname’s meaning, ports of departure, places of origin, historic distribution in both the United Kingdom and America, and immigration year as well as Facts that offer social context like newspaper headlines, Civil War service, life expectancy, and occupations.

Each Family Fact can help you focus a search for an ancestor—just remember, Family Facts won’t provide you with information specific to your ancestor, but you will get a whittled-down list of possibilities and guides that can help you determine where to go next. For example, see what you can learn from just the following short list of Family Facts:

Place of Origin: Where immigrants called home. Usually only the country is listed; it’s a good thing to remember that not all passengers provided their country of birth, their residence, or their port of departure.

Ports of Departure: The ports from where ships carrying people with the target surname departed. Be aware that some ships called at more than one port in the British Isles, and some British emigrants left from a French, German, or Irish port. Liverpool was the exit point for a large number of people from all over the British Isles.

Name Distribution ( UK ): 1891 UK census distribution plots for England and Wales. This Family Fact shows the strength of localized surnames in their traditional areas. For example, the data shows that more than 75 percent of all Nutalls in England—a Lancashire name—were still in Lancash ire in 1891.

Immigration Year: The number of immigrants with the target surname who came to America in a given year. This Family Fact can provide clues as to peak periods of migration for a specific surname—potentially useful when you want to set a range of years for a search or if you’re looking to investigate further the motivation behind a move.

Analysis—Speaking Numerically
Analyzing Family Facts is key to making them useful. For example, using the surnames Savage and Waterman and the Family Facts outlined above, here is what we can discern.

Research goal—To learn more about Savage ancestors and their immigration to America
• UK counties with the highest number of Savages in 1891 UK Census (Name Distribution UK)—Lancashire, Yorkshire
• Countries where most Savages who immigrated to America were born (Point of Origin)—Ireland, England, Great Britain
• Ports from where most Savages who immigrated to America departed (Ports of Departure)—Liverpool
• Top immigration years for Savage—1851, 1883

Family Facts show us that while a number of people in the New York Passenger List database with the surname Savage originated in England, nearly twice as many originated in Ireland. We also learn that in England and Wales in 1891, the name Savage appears in every county but one (place your mouse over the Savage-free county and you’ll learn it’s Merionethshire).

Now, using Family Facts, we can focus our search by trying to find answers to the following more specific questions:
Did the Savages leave England or did they leave Ireland?
Will local history in the Savages’ place of residence in America provide a clue as to the family’s point of departure?
Are there other identifying facts that we already know about the Savages such as first names, religion, or occupation?

Research goal—To learn where Waterman ancestors lived in the UK prior to their immigration to America
• UK counties with the highest number of Watermans in 1891 UK Census (Name Distribution UK)—Kent, London
• Countries where most Watermans who immigrated to America were born (Point of Origin)—England, Great Britain, London
• Ports from where most Watermans who immigrated to America departed (Ports of Departure)—Liverpool, Other
• Top immigration years for Waterman—1866, 1891

The 1891 UK plot shows most Watermans lived in southeast England ; additional details about origin and ports of departure bear this out. Other facts indicate that a good number of Watermans departed from Liverpool, England, or Queenstown, Ireland, but only two of the immigrants in the New York Passenger List reported that they actually hailed from Ireland.

Now, using Family Facts, we can focus our search by trying to find answers to the following more specific questions:
Are the counties of southeast England where Watermans were located well represented in online databases of vital records (e.g. civil registration and church records)?
Since there are a limited number of Waterman families, would a thorough search of each—one county and one census at a time—be a worthwhile exercise?

Remember, Family Facts provide you with information harvested directly from Ancestry.com databases, and each Family Fact is backed up by sources available at the click of your mouse. Plus, Family Facts offer plenty of options to consider and explore, regardless of your research goals. Remember, while they’re great trivia, Family Facts are more than just fun and games—they are useful statistics that add to your family story and spark new ideas and insight for further research. And they’ll always give you a host of interesting ideas to think about.