What is a good reliable search engine to find out the orgin of you surname?

Question

i would like to find out if ii am irsih or not and i need a good search engine. Thanks for looking!!

Answer 1

Please don't be confused.

The origin of a SURNAME is not the same as YOUR ancestry or origins.  Many names come from more than one place.

Finding out if you are or are not Irish, depends on researching the ancestry of who you are IN FACT descended from. Search engines/ websites are generic, and not reliable.

Answer 2

Google genealogy, and don't hesitate to investigate slight variations of the spelling including the first letter.

I did this and discovered some interesting things about my background. It confirmed my complete profile.

Answer 3

I am a big fan of Ancestry.com myself. Link is in sources.

Answer 4

A name identifier will NOT tell you if you are Irish or not. You need to either do a paper trail back to Ireland OR opt for a DNA test (both mtDNA or mother to mother AND a yDNA test or father to father). Note: yDNA is passed down ONLY by males; while men have mtDNA, women must have a near relative, i.e., father or brother for the yDNA test.

For the meaning and "origin" of surnames, just google the name.

Other than that, try these:

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.