Getting Somewhere ...With Unusual Spellings of Names

Hungarian Name Spellings Can HELP

A stop at the Family Search exhibit booth in the Jamboree 2105 exhibit hall netted me some great family data.  I posted my 

gggrandfather and

gggrandmother of the

BERGER/SZABO lineage 

to my Family Search family tree.

 • I added the surname Balint given name Martony and his wife given name Agnes and her unusual maiden name Zsigai.
 
• These unusual spelling of names matched information in the Family Search database which I then attached to my tree.

• I knew when I saw Zsigai and the name Agnes with it, I had found my gggrandmother. (Other match suggestions of Zsigi and Zsiga with the name Agnes were (perhaps a translation/typing error) all matches of information for my gggrandmother.

• There were no further suggested matches and no source given. 
I was disappointed that there was no source such as an image of BMD or census record. The only thing the folks at Family Search exhibit table could tell me was that this information was in the Family Search database. 

 Note the blue icon. There are other icons of importance (See below)

• In the Hungarian language and culture Martony, Balint, and Zsigai are not unusual names or spellings.  
•We are not used to working with the spellings of these names so they STOOD OUT as the only names matched and were not easily confused with other surnames. 
•If the database had other names like these, most certainly they would have been my Martony and Agnes.

• The Zs is an actual letter of the Hungarian alphabet and is used at the beginning and pronounces only similar to the English like Z in zipper.

I typed in the information of my gggrandparents and left the Family Search exhibit booth. Once back in my hotel room I tried to continue work on this tree but found the information I had entered was not to be seen.

Note: It may take several days for the find and your acceptance of the find to be added and seen on your Family Search tree.  

When working on Family Search and as other matches pop up, note the small icons at the bottom of the button: 

red exclamation point = error such as "father born before before the mother's birth date"

brown (computer with magnifying glass) = source hint such as a "leaf" in Ancestry

blue (keyboard with ?) = research suggestion= no source attached  

Note the red, blue and brown icons

Caution: Unmatching or unattaching matches that are NOT good matches are too easily attached. Then you have to go through the process of unmatching/deleting them. 

Note: Not an easy process to find and complete.

 One week later I received by email confirming the linking of these matches in LDS summary format.

This match due to an unusual spelling of a name was a good match.

Another couple of the Berger/Szabo surname wer added. The email below provided source name and microfilm numbers.

What are your experiences with Family Search? 

Please contact me and share them.

See you down the road,