How the Research Planner Works
The planner begins by matching a name against the first-name and surname entries in this reference library. A match can supply the entry type, the origins currently assigned to the page, a concise description, and a direct link to the cited article. You can then add a place, an approximate date range, and a spelling already found in a record.
Those details produce a practical checklist rather than a claim about your family. The suggested record groups are prompts to investigate availability in the relevant jurisdiction. Civil registration, censuses, parish registers, probate files, directories, migration records, and other collections began at different times in different places.
The planner runs entirely in your browser. Names, places, dates, and spellings entered into the form are processed locally and are not stored by the planner.
What the Generated Plan Can Tell You
A plan can organize the next research steps, show whether the library contains a first-name or surname entry, and provide mechanical spelling forms that may be useful in catalogues. It can also remind you to verify name order, original script, diacritics, relatives, addresses, occupations, and the purpose of each record.
The output cannot identify an ancestor, prove a migration route, assign ethnicity, or show that two bearers are related. It does not replace an original certificate, register image, manuscript, or properly cited family reconstruction.
When a library entry labels a name English, Irish, French, Greek, Japanese, or another origin, that describes documented name history. It does not establish the nationality, birthplace, language, religion, or genetic ancestry of every bearer.
Using Place and Date Carefully
Place and period determine which records could exist. Before modern civil registration, church registers, tax lists, deeds, court papers, estate documents, guild records, and locally preserved manuscripts may carry more weight. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century research often adds censuses, civil certificates, passenger lists, naturalization files, military records, directories, newspapers, and identity documents.
Administrative boundaries can change even when a family remains in one village. Record the historical jurisdiction as well as the modern country. A town may have appeared under different counties, provinces, empires, dioceses, or registration districts.
Recent records may be restricted for privacy. The planner therefore suggests categories to check rather than promising that a collection is public, complete, indexed, or available online.
Mechanical Search Forms and Real Variants
The planner can remove diacritics, separate punctuation, and create compact or spaced forms. These are mechanical search forms intended to work around catalogue and keyboard limitations. They are not automatically historical variants.
For example, an unaccented form can help locate a record created by a system that could not store the original characters. That does not make the unaccented spelling more correct. Likewise, removing an apostrophe or hyphen may expose an index entry but does not prove that a family legally changed its name.
A genuine historical variant should be supported by dated records, linguistic evidence, or a reliable name reference. Add a known spelling only when you can say where it appeared.
Comparison Mode
Comparison mode places two library entries side by side. It reports exact shared origin labels, entry types, normalized spellings, summaries, and links to the complete pages. This can help identify questions worth researching.
Shared labels do not prove shared ancestry or even the same etymology. Two unrelated names can occur in the same language, while genuinely related forms can be assigned different immediate origins because they developed in different places. An absence of shared labels therefore does not prove that the names are unrelated.
The comparison deliberately avoids percentages. A numerical “relationship score” would imply a precision that name spelling and broad origin labels cannot provide.
Worked Example
Suppose a researcher enters MacDonald, Scotland, and 1840–1910. The library match identifies a Scottish surname entry and links to its documented explanation. The plan prompts the researcher to preserve MacDonald and McDonald as separately observed forms, identify the registration district, inspect civil and parish records, follow household members through censuses, and check migration or probate evidence where appropriate.
That plan does not prove descent from a particular clan or historical Donald. It turns a general etymological clue into a sequence of record-based questions.
If MacDonald is compared with Donald, a shared Scottish label may appear. The useful conclusion is that the pages share a recorded naming context. The comparison alone cannot show that a person named Donald founded a particular MacDonald line.
Etymology Versus Genealogy
Etymology studies how a name formed, what language shaped it, and how its spelling or meaning changed. Genealogy studies relationships among identifiable people through dated evidence.
A sound family history keeps those conclusions separate. Begin with the most recent confirmed person, collect complete records, and move backward one relationship at a time. Use name history to form searches and interpret evidence, not to fill missing generations.
Privacy and Limitations
This static tool keeps its working data in the current browser tab. It does not create an account, save a project, upload a family tree, or send entered research details to a database. Printing and copying are handled by the browser. The page itself still uses the site analytics and advertising services described in the privacy policy.
Avoid entering sensitive information about living people. Use a research label or initials if you need to distinguish a recent person in your own notes.
The reference index and generated checklist are starting points. Consult the linked name pages, their cited sources, archive catalogues, and original records before publishing a conclusion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the planner prove where my family came from?
No. It organizes searches and links to documented name history. A family origin requires connected records for particular people and places.
Are the suggested spellings genuine historical variants?
Not necessarily. Automatically generated forms are mechanical catalogue searches. A historical variant needs evidence from records or reliable linguistic sources.
What does a shared origin in comparison mode mean?
It means both site entries carry at least one identical origin label. It does not prove shared ancestry, identical etymology, or direct equivalence.
Does the tool save my names or dates?
No. The planner processes form values locally and does not save them as a project or submit them to a research database. The site-level services that apply to the page are explained in the privacy policy.
Can I print or save my plan?
Yes. After generating a plan or comparison, use the print control to print it or save it as a PDF through your browser. You can also copy a plain-text version.