Blank names

Sometimes a person will only have one name on the census or obit record, or none at all. Follow these rules to input them:

INPUT THIS	WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE THIS ON THE DOCUMENT
(BLANK), Mary	When only first name shows (and last name isn't dittoed from above) such as on a death certificate.
Jones, (BLANK)	When only the last name is given and there is no first name
Jones, (?)	When it says, Jones, ? on the manuscript.
Jones, (WIFE)	When it says Wife in the wife’s line on the census underneath a husband whose last name is given
Jones, (BABY)	When it says BABY on the census manuscript and last name is written in or dittoed from above
Jones, (DEAD INFANT)	When mil info says DEAD INFANT or you find a death record saying DEAD INFANT [you can mark all decades with black x’s even without death date]
Jones, (CHILD)	When it says CHILD on mil info (include Vet’s last name)
Jones, (NO NAME)	When census manuscript says NO NAME
LEAVE BLANK	When it says unknown, not obtainable, not given or just ?  In other words, no names are given at all.

See previous blog post and comments on Sept 14, 2015 for additional reference.


What you're trying to accomplish is to make the name conform to our standard name format rules using whatever information you have. Anything that is not a last name, first name, or middle initial/name should be in parentheses ( ). If the first name or last name is left blank, let us know by inputting "(BLANK)."