Peacock Data solves an age old problem

March 10, 2015 - Unlike first names, which have been with us since antiquity, fixed surnames were not used much until late in the High Middle Ages when populations grew and people found it necessary to be more specific when talking about someone else. For example, in England, the practice of family names was introduced after the Norman conquest in 1066, but was not fully adopted until the 13th and 14th centuries. The Welsh did not use them until the 17th century, and the Japanese did not have them until the 19th century except among aristocrats. On the other hand, matrilineal surnames existed in China prior to the Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC). Ireland was the first country in Europe to adopt fixed last names, "Ó Cleirigh", recorded in 916, being the very first.

In the beginning, surnames were names like John son of Thomas (patronymic), Jane of the Hills (habitational), Henry the Weaver (occupational), and Mary the Redhead (characteristic), until the adoption of modern last names, which were often alterations of these old-fashioned names.

The problem

Through this process, many variations of last names occurred, some by design and others due to carelessness or lack of education. For example, as families immigrated to other countries they often modified or even translated their name to fit in with a new language. Many other variations occurred as a largely uneducated society tried to transcribe their names the best way they could while educated families decided to attenuate, accent, or otherwise modify their surnames over time, and Brown becomes Browne. Still other names are not variations at all, but sound similar.

pdSurname to the rescue

Apparently as all this was going on they were not thinking of modern day scribes, typists, and data processors who now need to work with all the variations and phonetic similarities. That is why Peacock Data invented pdSurname. A one-of-a-kind proprietary resource that does for last names what our highly regarded pdNickname software does for first names, it is designed to facilitate matching last names that are not exactly the same but are close in relationship, spelling, or sound. Coverage includes surnames from hundreds of languages and the package employs the best matching algorithms designed for this process.

As a further benefit, for a large majority of last names, the language of origin and use have also been researched and included, and all names have a real or estimated calculation for usage among races, including white, black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific, Native American/Alaskan, and multiracial use.

An enhanced version even incorporates sophisticated fuzzy logic which allows matching when lists have typographical errors.

This easy-to-use, comprehensive, and up-to-date software is of great value for businesses and organizations working with lists of names, but ancestry researchers, students, teachers, and scholars benefit as well because this software is recommended for study in genealogy, onomatology, anthroponymy, ethnology, linguistics, and related disciplines.

pdSurname is available in Pro and Standard editions

The Pro edition ($371.25) includes more than 80 million standard last name variation records and 28 million fuzzy logic records based on more than 335,000 surname formations, with the relationship identified for name pairs, languages of origin or use, and real or estimated usage among races.

The Standard edition ($224.25) includes the same more than 80 million last name variation records based on more than 335,000 surname formations, with the relationship identified for name pairs, languages of origin or use, and real or estimated usage among races. It has all features of the Pro version except fuzzy logic.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: visit the pdSurname web page