Anyone conducted a one-name study?

[Lensgirl]

Hi

one name on my nans side seems to be extremely rare. in 2002 there were 27 people with this name and i have only been able to find 4 generations with this surname.

The eldest was born c1795 and the youngest male died in 1900, although his daughter, my gg granmother died in 1951.

Has anyone conducted a one-name study and what does it involve?

many thanks

[Olde Crone Holden]

Lensgirl

If you can only find four generations with this surname, it is either foreign...or mis-spelled.

I'm doing an unofficial one name study of Holdens. There are far, far too many for me to do it in an organised fashion, but if you have a rare name, it is a lot easier.

Collect all the census refs. Collect all the bmds. Google the name and pick up any reference. Search every site you can think of. Make contact wherever you can. Search modern phone books and write to the surname asking if they are willing to tell you anything they know.

You will gradually build up a database. If you want to join GOONS, then you have to agree to certain conditions (answer every query etc).

Good luck - it's fascinating stuff.

OC

[Lensgirl]

thanks OC. i think the name has ended up as Danslow, but seems to have moved from Denslow. However i havent yet been able to confirm or deny this theory!!

[KiteRunner]

FamilySearch treats it as a variant of Denslow, if that's any help. I expect you already knew that, though!

[Anne in Carlisle]

My OH and I co-ordinate the research for a one name society (EAST). It began in the early 1990s from just such a person as you who thought it would be a good idea to keep all references to the name in case they all join up!

Although EAST is quite an unusual surname (surprisingly!) there is now a HUGE, HUGE amount of material taking up much of our spare bedroom, and our hard disk! I don't think the founders of the society had any idea what they were getting into. However there have been many successes and a lot of members have found they are distantly related (also a lot who are not!)

As OC said - you can just do it unofficially (in which case you can do it exactly as you please!) or you can join the Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS) and abide by their guidelines. If you name is vanishingly rare it may be a thought to include the other variations in spelling.

In fact - you do just as you like, which is great :D

Anne