Surnames
Surname Navigator: http://www.kuijsten.de/navigator/ - SUPER way to do a quick surname survey
Another - ExpertGenealogy Websearch Wizard: http://expertgenealogy.com/websearch/
The pre-eminent Rootsweb Surname List: http://rsl.rootsweb.com -- don't just search it, also list your surnames!
GEDCOM index: http://www.gedcomindex.com/
Linkpendium's Surnames - Web sites, obituaries, biographies, and other material specific to a surname: http://www.linkpendium.com/genealogy/USA/sur/
TNG Network Search for Names: http://tngnetwork.lythgoes.net/index.php
UK Office of National Statistics database of surnames in use in England, Wales and the Isle of Man, September 2002: http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/search.php
Surname Profiler: The Geography of British Names: http://www.spatial-literacy.org/index.php?p=familyname
Online English Names Directory: http://www.list.jaunay.com/engnames/
Yournotme.com, also UK, 2001: http://www.yournotme.com. You can leave messages on this site.
Namnsökning. Hur många heter...? - Statistik från SCB (Swedish Surnames & Forenames): http://www.scb.se/templates/Standard____31245.asp
Sök=search, efternamn=last name, förnamn=first name, båda könen=both sexes, kvinna=woman, man=man
You can use some of the general sites where you can search for surname distribution to pin down villages /communes for further study, if you are researching a relatively rare surname. Some of these sites for France are Notrefamille: http://notrefamille.com/v2/services-nom-de-famille/nom.asp (1890), GeoPatronyme: http://www.geopatronyme.com/index.htm (1891-1915, 1916-1940, 1941-1965, & 1966-1990), and GeneaNet: http://www.geneanet.org/ (European GEDCOMS). The French Telephone Directories: http://www.pagesjaunes.fr/trouverunnom/RecherchePagesBlanches.do or http://www.infobel.com/france will do the same thing for surnames existing today. Some parts of the 1836 Census of the Alsace have started to become available. You can search the surname list to see if your people might be on the CDs issued so far: http://www.census1836.com/
World Telephone Listings: http://valoriez.blogspot.com/2004/02/world-telephone-listings.html
All of Europe - Ahnenlotse.de: http://www.ahnenlotse.de/index.html
GeoGen, German surname maps: http://christoph.stoepel.net/Geogen-localized-en.aspx
For US surnames, try Search the USGenWeb Archives: http://searches.rootsweb.com/htdig/search.html
State by State: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ussearch.htm
Surname Research Directories - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man and Channel Isles: http://www.genuki.org.uk/indexes/SurnamesLists.html
Search most of the world - LDS FamilySearch: http://www.familysearch.org
Largest collection of patron submitted and record extracted BMD data available anywhere in the Ancestral File, IGI, & LDS Pedigree File, plus the LDS Vital Record Index (some available only on inexpensive CDs). The 1880 US, 1881 English & Canadian census indexes can be searched there also.
Also, various Rootsweb searches can be found here: http://searches.rootsweb.com. It may also be useful to search the archives of the Surnames list, although it is currently not working, because it was so busy and so structured, and mirrored the Surnames newsgroup: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com?list=SURNAMES. And don't forget the Rootsweb Surname List (RSL): http://rsl.rootsweb.com
New! Now you can search one or all of the Rootsweb lists! Howto: http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/searching-list-archives-by-joan-young.html
Finding Living Persons: http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/finding-living-persons.html
Searching vital records (birth, marriage, death, divorce, or BMDs), naturalizations and passenger is another good way to get surnames only. http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/death-records-obituaries-biographies.html, http://valoriez.blogspot.com/2004/03/obituaries.html, http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/vital-records.html, http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/immigration-and-emigration.html, http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/naturalization.html
A fun search -- see how popular your surname (or forename) is in the 1990 US Census: http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/namesearch.html
US Surname Distribution over time: http://www.hamrick.com/names/
Changing Immigrant Names (INS): http://uscis.gov/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/NAMES.htm
Search for (or add) your Female Ancestor: http://geneasearch.com/cgi-bin/females.cgi
For derivations of surnames, try SURNAME-ORIGINS-L@rootsweb.com: http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/SURNAME-ORIGINS.html
Derivations of forenames: http://BehindtheName.com
Surname Meanings: http://www.nameseekers.co.uk/surname.htm
Surname Meanings & Origins: http://genealogy.miningco.com/hobbies/genealogy/cs/surnameorigins/
Also see Kate Monk's Onomastikon (Dictionary of Names): http://www.gaminggeeks.org/Resources/KateMonk/
18th- and 19th-century American Nicknames: http://www.cslib.org/nickname.htm
Weaselhead, Devil and Drunkard: Surnames Originating As Insults - interesting tour of surnames we would now find insulting, profane, or puzzling: http://www.genealogymagazine.com/suorasin.html
German fornames - Vornamen: http://www.kirchenweb.at/vornamen/ and http://www.firstname.de/
Places to search for your surnames (GEDCOMs) -
WorldConnect at Rootsweb: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/ (one can also upload and/or search from Ancestry.com; however, there are fewer options for customization on the Anc side. Common database.) Worldconnect/AWT Submitter Surname Search: http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ss - Thanks, Randy!
Tribalpages: http://www.tribalpages.com/ (one can password the files, or leave them public)
Pedigree Resource File (LDS): http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Share/Preserve/frameset_preserve.asp
Genealogy For You: http://genealogyforyou.com/ ($24 a year, uses TNG - see Bible Family for display)
GeneaNet (lots of European GEDCOMs, uses GeneWeb): http://www.geneanet.org/
Genes Reunited for British Isles GEDCOMs: http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/
Free to search, but you must be a paid member to contact the owner of a GEDCOM
Dave Wilks' free Gedcom server: http://www.my-ged.com/
GenCircles: http://www.gencircles.com
Family Tree Registry.org (family tree descriptions, surnames): http://www.familytreeregistry.org/
Family History Books - BYU has scanned in 4000+ and put them online: http://www.lib.byu.edu/fhc/
How easy is it for one benevolent being to diffuse pleasure around him, and how truly is a kind heart a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity to freshen into smiles. - Washington Irving, 1783-1859
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