Help for the Equivalent Names Report

The GRanDMA database accommodates multiple versions (different spellings or translations) of the same name -- a "family" of names. For example, John, Johann, Hans, Ian and many more are considered to be the same name. When you do a search, you can enter any version of "John", and GMOL will search for all.

The same is true of surnames, such as Dyck, Dueck, Dick, van Dyck, etc.

Decades ago, a code system was developed for Low German names and given names, and when you enter a name, the code for that name, the refVal is retrieved and used as the basis for the search. For John van Dyck or for Hans Dueck, that refVal is /049jo, jo for John or Hans, etc., and 049 for Dueck, Dick, van Dyck, etc.

The refVal appears under the name in the Individual Profile as /049jo together with the GRanDMA Number.

When you do a normal search, and enter a given name and a surname, GMOL looks up the refVal and searches for individuals with that refVal instead of search for individuals with the name that you entered. (That can be over-ridden by un-checking the option(s) to include all variations.)

To get a list of these equivalents, enter any given name or surname or both, and all the members of that family of names will be reported.

The numbers in parentheses are the numbers of occurances of that name in a recent release of the database (not available at the moment.)