We each have 2 parents, and they each have 2 parent....and so on. A lot of genealogists only search their surname...and I think they are missing the boat when they do this.
My maiden name is Moore. I can't find much on them - just way too many.
My mom's maiden name is House. Even more common. But I started with that name at age 17, so my files are extensive.
In looking at my entire family tree, I have:
2 parents
4 grandparents
8 great grandparents
16 gr gr grandparents
32 gr gr gr grandparents
64 gr gr gr gr grandparents
128 gr gr gr gr gr grandparents
256 gr gr gr gr gr gr grandparents
512 gr gr gr gr gr gr gr grandparents
1022 - total number of direct ancestors you are searching in 9 generations
going back on mom's side, 9 generation - only takes me to the year 1720! If you give 25 years to each generation thinking that a mom has a child by age 25, who has a child by age 25, and so on...you might only get back to 1785 in your research. My ancestors were "slower". LOL!
My point is, that of the 1022 direct ancestors that I am searching ONLY NINE people have the surname of House,
Only NINE people have the Surname Moore.
There should be at least 1004 other surnames in my family tree. Yes, some of them will be the same as the male in each line goes back.....but how on earth can we forget or overlook the women? Yes, they are much more difficult to trace, but they still were necessary to get us here today!!!
When you add in each grandparents other children and their children, you can quickly gather thousands of people into your family tree. But I think the rather important line are the direct ancestors.
I'm starting to think that while a name may identify us as to who we are today, it really doesn't have much importance on who our ancestors were.
Even in the Bible, we are given both lines for Jesus....one for Joseph and one for Mary.
If you are lucky enough to have a family tree, take a look at it. Does it show your mother's mother's mother's mother? How far have you gone back on each of the female/mother lines? If you don't know who they were, how do you now who you were?
In a 9 generation tree (add you for the 10th generation) your surname is only .8 % of who you are....NOT EVEN ONE PERCENT!!!! And ask yourself these question...if my name is less than 1% of who my ancestors were,
is it really only a means to identify my physical body today....and not who I am?
who is my father's father's mother's mother?
what if 3 or 4 generations back, the entire family on your mom's side was quaker?
what if 6 generations back, they were all Jewish and fled from France as refugees? there is some speculation that the Hugeunots may have been Jewish, hiding their religion.
What if 15 generations back, many of their family members were beheaded because they refused to become Catholic?
If you take the time to look at the women in your family tree, you might be surprised as to who you really are, and how strong your DNA was.
Perhaps the best question to ask....if you are less than 1% of what you think your surname is, then who are the other 99%+ that were here on earth to help get you here?
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