Guild of One-Name Studies

A one-name study is a project, carried out by a single person, or a group, researching all occurrences of a particular surname and its variants, throught the world, over all recorded time.

Typically, the researchers will also study the origins of the surname, and its geographical distribution. Sometimes, especially if the surname is also the name of a place, they will try to identify a single place of origin of the surname.

Before you start on a one-name study, you need to know if the surname is not so common as to make the study too difficult. SMITH, for example, would be totally impossible. Also, before you begin, you need to have mastered the general principles of normal genealogy and be familiar with the usual source materials.

Full details are available on the Guild's website.

External links