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NGS Genealogy Terms (Family History)
Glossary used in the National Genealogy Society’s free Family History Skllls Course: https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/family-history-skills-start-your-course/
165
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Beginner
10/18/2024

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Term
ABSTRACT
Definition
Summary of essential facts in a document or record
Term
ADMINISTRATOR / ADMINISTRATRIX
Definition
Masculine and feminine forms, respectively, for one appointed
by a court to administer the estate of a person who died without a valid will
Term
ADMINISTRATORS BOND
Definition
Bond posted by an administrator to guarantee the proper performance of
his duties
Term
AFFIDAVIT
Definition
A written or oral statement made under oath
Term
AHNENTAFEL
Definition
List of ancestors in
numerical order
Term
AHNENTAFEL NUMBERING SYSTEM
Definition
System used to number a person’s ancestors
Term
ALIEN
Definition
Foreign-born resident of a country who has not been naturalized
Term
ANCESTOR
Definition
Person from whom another person is descended--for example, a parent, grandparent,
or great-grandparent
Term
ANCESTOR CHART
Definition
Form for recording genealogical information on several generations of a
person’s ancestors;
also known as a pedigree chart
Term
APPLICATION FOR LETTERS
OF ADMINISTRATION
Definition
Written request submitted to a court asking for
authorization to act on behalf of the estate of a decedent
Term
BAPTISM
Definition
Christian ceremony by which water is applied by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion as
a sign of admission to
membership in a church
Term
BAPTISMAL RECORD
Definition
Written account of a baptism
Term
BIOGRAPHY
Definition
History of a person's life written by another person
Term
BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Definition
Written account of a birth in
the form of a certificate
created for and maintained
by a government agency
Term
BIRTH RECORD
Definition
Written accounot of a birth
Term
BLOOD RELATIONSHIP
Definition
Relationship between persons descended from a common ancestor
Term
BONDSMAN
Definition
Surety on a bond
Term
BURIAL RECORD
Definition
Written account of a burial
Term
“c” OR “ca”
Definition
Abbreviation for “circa”— about
Term
CATALOG
Definition
Listing of items, such as the holdings of a library, arranged systematically
Term
CENSUS
Definition
Periodic official enumeration of the population
Term
CENSUS DAY
Definition
Day set by law for the federal or state censuses to begin;
- also -
“as of” date for which certain statistics were taken
Term
CENSUS, DECENNIAL
Definition
Population enumeration taken every ten years as required by the U.S.
Constitution
Term
CENSUS SCHEDULE
Definition
Completed census form
Term
CERTIFIED TRANSCRIPTION
Definition
Transcribed copy of a document signed and certified as a true copy by the official with custody of the original
Term
CITATION
Definition
Reference to a source
of information
Term
CIVIL RECORD
Definition
Record created by and for a government agency
Term
COGRANTOR
Definition
One of two or more persons conveying land by deed
Term
COLLATERAL RELATIONSHIP
Definition
Relationship between persons descended from a common ancestor, but
not in the direct line--for example, a great-aunt, uncle, cousin, or nephew
Term
COMMON ANCESTOR
Definition
Mutual ancestor of two
or more persons
Term
COMPILATION
Definition
Collection of information or materials from various sources
Term
COMPLEX MILITARY SERVICE RECORD
Definition
A term used by the National Archives for a jacket containing
cards with information about an individual’s military service abstracted from original documents
Term
CONGREGATION
Definition
Local group of a religious denomination
Term
CONSANGUINITY
Definition
Blood relationship--relationship among descendants of a common ancestor
Term
COUSIN
Definition
Person not in one's direct line with whom one has ancestors in common
Term
COUSIN, FIRST
Definition
Person with whom one has grandparents in common and his/her ancestors
Term
COUSIN, REMOVED
Definition
Person descended from a common ancestor, but by a different number of
generations; one generation would be “once removed,” two generations would be “twice
removed”
Term
COUSIN, SECOND
Definition
Person with whom one has in common great-grandparents and his/her ancestors
Term
COUSIN, THIRD
Definition
Person with whom one has in common great-great-grandparents and his/her
ancestors
Term
DAR
Definition
Abbreviation for National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
Term
DEATH CERTIFICATE
Definition
Written account of a death in
the form of a certificate
created for and maintained
by a government agency
Term
DEATH NOTICE
Definition
Brief account of a death published in a newspaper
Term
DEATH RECORD
Definition
Written account of a death
Term
DECEDENT
Definition
Deceased person
Term
DECLARATION OF INTENTION
Definition
Document filed by an alien in a court declaring his or her intention to apply for citizenship after fulfillment of the residency requirement; also known as “first papers”
Term
DEED
Definition
Document that transfers title to property from one private party to another
Term
DEED OF GIFT
Definition
Document that transfers title to property from one private party to another without a normal purchase price
Term
DEED OF PARTITION
Definition
Document by which two or more persons who are co-owners of property divide the property into individual ownership of distinct parts of the property
Term
DELAYED BIRTH CERTIFICATE
Definition
Birth certificate issued, often many years after the event, to a person
whose birth was not officially recorded when it occurred
Term
DENOMINATION
Definition
Religious organization
Term
DERIVATIVE SOURCE
Definition
Material based upon an original source;

Abstracts, compilations, databases,
indexes, transcripts are examples of derivative sources
Term
DESCENDANT
Definition
Person who is the offspring of another person; for example, a child, grandchild, or
great-grandchild
Term
DIRECT EVIDENCE
Definition
Relevant information that answers a question or solves
a problem without
additional information
Term
DOWER
Definition
Right of a widow to a life estate in a portion of the real property owned by her deceased
husband
Term
DWELLING NUMBER
Definition
Number assigned to a dwelling, including a single household or multiple households, on a census schedule
Term
ENDNOTE
Definition
Reference to a source of information or comment placed at the end of a complete work
Term
ENUMERATION DISTRICT
Definition
Beginning in 1880, the district
of not more than 4,000 persons assigned to a federal census enumerator
Term
ESTATE
Definition
Property composing the
assets of a decedent
Term
EVIDENCE
Definition
Evidence that is relevant to
the problem; it is either
direct or indirect
Term
EVIDENCE ANALYSIS
Definition
The process used to determine the validity of a source, information, or evidence
Term
EXTRACT
Definition
Word-for-word copy of part of a document or record; it is enclosed in quotation marks
Term
FAMILY GROUP SHEET
Definition
Form for recording genealogical information on a husband and wife and their children
Term
FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS
Definition
Local branches of the Family History Library
Term
FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY (FHL)
Definition
Genealogical library of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in
Salt Lake City, Utah
Term
FEDERAL POPULATION CENSUS
Definition
Enumeration of the population by the federal government taken
every ten years since 1790
Term
FINAL PAPERS
Definition
Petition for naturalization with supporting affidavits filed by an alien in a court
Term
FIRST PAPERS
Definition
Declaration of intention filed by an alien in a court
Term
FOOTNOTE
Definition
Reference to a source of information or comment placed at the bottom of the page to
which it pertains
Term
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
Definition
Law permitting access to
public records maintained
by government agencies
Term
GAZETTEER
Definition
Geographical dictionary
Term
GENEALOGY
Definition
Study of the origins and descent of families; a written history of the descent of a person
or family from an ancestor
Term
GENEALOGIST
Definition
Person who collects and compiles information on the descendants of an individual
or the history of a family
Term
GIVEN NAME
Definition
Person’s first or middle name
Term
GRANTEE
Definition
Person to whom land is conveyed by deed
Term
GRANTOR
Definition
Person who conveys
land by deed
Term
GREGORIAN CALENDAR
Definition
Calendar system created by Pope Gregory to correct accumulated errors
in the old (Julian) calendar;
also known as the
New Style calendar
Term
HALF BROTHER / SISTER
Definition
Person with whom one has
one parent in common
Term
HALF COUSIN
Definition
Person with whom one has one grandparent in common
Term
HEARSAY
Definition
Secondhand information such as oral history or family tradition
Term
HEIR
Definition
Person who inherits the
property of a decedent
Term
HEIR AT LAW
Definition
Person designated by law to inherit the estate of a person who died without a valid will
Term
HOUSEHOLD
Definition
Persons who live together
in a house or dwelling
Term
IBID.
Definition
In the same place;

Latin abbreviation used in a
list of citations to refer to the immediately preceding entry
Term
IMAGE COPY
Definition
Digital, film, or photo image; provided that it has not been altered, it is treated as
an original
Term
IMMIGRANT
Definition
Person who enters a country
of which he or she is not a citizen with the intention of
establishing permanent residence
Term
INDEX
Definition
Alphabetical listing of names, places, titles, subjects, etc., with page numbers, document
numbers, or other identification as to where they can be found
Term
INDIRECT EVIDENCE
Definition
Information relevant to the research question that does not answer the question on its own; it has to be combined with other information to solve the problem
Term
INFORMANT
Definition
Person who gives information; for example, the person who provides information
about the decedent and his family for a death certificate
Term
INSTANT
Definition
Latin word meaning
“current month”
Term
INTERMENT
Definition
Burial
Term
INTERMENT BOOK
Definition
Book in which records of burials are recorded by a cemetery
Term
INVENTORY
Definition
Detailed listing of property included in an estate
Term
JULIAN CALENDAR
Definition
Calendar in use before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar;

also known as the
Old Style calendar
Term
LDS
Definition
Abbreviation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Term
LINEAL RELATIONSHIP
Definition
Relationship between persons descended from a common ancestor in the same line;
for example, a parent, grandparent, child, or grandchild
Term
LOCAL VITAL RECORDS
Definition
Written account of a birth / marriage / death recorded by a town, city, or county
Term
LOCALITY
Definition
City, town, township, or other subdivision of a county
Term
“LONG FORM”
Definition
Photocopy of a vital record
Term
MAIDEN NAME
Definition
Surname of an unmarried woman
Term
MARRIAGE BOND
Definition
Document executed to guarantee that no impediments existed to an intended
marriage
Term
MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
Definition
Written account of a marriage created for and maintained by
a government agency;
also, a document given to the newly married couple by the person who performed the marriage
Term
MARRIAGE CERTIFICATION
Definition
Report of the facts of a
marriage to a town or county
certified by the officiator
Term
MARRIAGE CONSENT
Definition
Permission granted, usually by
a parent, for the marriage
of a minor
Term
MARRIAGE INTENTION
Definition
Notice of an intended marriage published by a New England town
Term
MARRIAGE LICENSE
Definition
Document issued by a town or county authorizing the performance of a marriage
Term
MARRIAGE RECORD
Definition
Written account of a marriage
Term
MARRIAGE REGISTER
Definition
Written record of marriages performed in a civil or ecclesiastical jurisdiction
Term
MARRIAGE RETURN
Definition
Report of the facts of a
marriage returned to a town
or county by theofficiator
Term
MARRIED NAME
Definition
Surname of a married woman
Term
MATERNAL ANCESTORS
Definition
Ancestors of one’s mother
Term
MICROFILM
Definition
Film containing reduced photographic copies of printed
or other graphic material
Term
MIDWIFE
Definition
Person who assists in childbirth
Term
MILITARY RECORDS
Definition
Written account of an individual's military service
Term
MONTHLY MEETING
Definition
In the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the equivalent of a congregation
in other denominations
Term
MORTALITY CENSUS SCHEDULE
Definition
Federal census form for enumeration of deaths during the twelve-month period preceding the census taken at the 1850, 1860, 1870,
and 1880 censuses
Term
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION (NARA)
Definition
Repository of the permanently
valuable records of the U.S. federal government
Term
NATIVE-BORN
Definition
Adjective used to describe a person who acquired citizenship by birth
Term
NATURALIZATION
Definition
Legal process by which
citizenship is conferred
on an alien
Term
NATURALIZATION RECORD
Definition
Document created during the naturalization process
Term
NATURALIZED CITIZEN
Definition
Person who acquired
citizenship through the naturalization process
Term
NICKNAME
Definition
Name used as a substitute
for a person’s given name
Term
OBITUARY
Definition
Newspaper article about a death
Term
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Definition
The clerk’s official copy; it is treated as the original when
the original does not exist
or cannot be accessed
Term
ORIGINAL SOURCE
Definition
Record created at the time of, or shortly after, an event by someone with personal knowledge of the facts, or the testimony of a person involved in the event; the record is
in its first recorded form
Term
PASSENGER ARRIVAL RECORD
Definition
Document listing names of persons who arrived in
the destination country
on a ship or by air
Term
PATERNAL ANCESTORS
Definition
Ancestors or forebears
of one’s father
Term
PEDIGREE CHART
Definition
Form for recording genealogical information on several generations of a person’s ancestors;
also known as an ancestor chart
Term
PENSION APPLICATION FILE
Definition
Collection of documents relating to the application by a veteran or his dependent(s) for a pension based on military service
Term
PERIODICAL
Definition
Publication issued at regular intervals, such as a newsletter, magazine, or journal
Term
PERPETUAL CALENDAR
Definition
Set of calendars for finding the day of the week for a given date during a wide range of years
Term
PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION
Definition
Application for citizenship
filed by an alien with
supporting affidavits;

also known as “final papers
Term
PETITION FOR PROBATE
Definition
Written application to a court
to admit a will to probate and give the executor authority to carry out its provision
Term
POPULATION CENSUS SCHEDULE
Definition
Federal census form for enumeration of the population
at ten-year intervals since 1790
Term
PORT OF EMBARKATION
Definition
Port from which a ship sails
Term
PORT OF ENTRY
Definition
Port at which a ship arrives
Term
PRIMARY INFORMATION
Definition
Details provided by a person with firsthand knowledge
of an event
Term
PROBATE FILE
Definition
Envelope or jacket in which
have been filed the probate records pertaining to the
estate of a decedent
Term
PROBATE RECORD
Definition
Record created in the process of settling the estate of a decedent
Term
PUBLISHED SOURCE
Definition
Book, periodical, newspaper, microfilm, or other media which makes information widely available to the public
Term
QUITCLAIM DEED
Definition
Document transferring the interest the grantor has in the property; does not guarantee that the grantor is the sole owner or has a clear title
to the property
Term
REGULAR ARMY
Definition
Standing professional army, as distinguished from a volunteer militia or a group drafted for a particular war
Term
RELIGIOUS RECORD
Definition
Written account of a baptism, marriage, burial, or other event recorded by a religious congregation
Term
REPOSITORY
Definition
Library, courthouse, archives,
or other place where books, manuscripts, documents,
and other materials are housed
Term
REPRINT EDITION
Definition
Previously published book reprinted without revision
Term
SC
Definition
Abbreviation for “soldier’s certificate”
Term
SECONDARY INFORMATION
Definition
Second-hand or hearsay information; the details are provided by a person without first-hand (primary) knowledge
Term
SHORT FORM
Definition
Certified transcription of
a vital record
Term
SLAVE CENSUS SCHEDULE
Definition
Federal census form for enumeration of slaves
in 1850 and 1860
Term
SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX
Definition
Database of information about persons who were receiving
benefits at the time of
their deaths and whose
deaths were reported to the
Social Security Administration
Term
SOLDIER’S CERTIFICATE
Definition
Numbered certificate awarded to a veteran who qualified for a federal pension based on military service;
number used to access a pension application file
Term
SOUNDEX
Definition
Soundex - Partially phonetic indexing system in which names are arranged alphabetically by the first letter of the surname, a numerical code representing the remaining letters of the surname, alphabetically by first name or initials of the head of household, and alphabetically by state of birth of the head of household
Term
SOURCE
Definition
An artifact, book, document, person, website, etc.;

a source is something we can touch or see, and it contains information
Term
SOURCE CITATION
Definition
Reference to a source of information
Term
STATE ARCHIVES
Definition
Repository of historical documents maintained by
a state government
Term
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Definition
Organization interested in preserving the history of a state
Term
STATE VITAL RECORDS OFFICE
Definition
Agency of a state government
in which birth and death
(and sometimes marriage) records are filed
Term
SURETY
Definition
Guarantor; one legally liable
for the debt, default, or
failure of another
Term
SURNAME
Definition
Person’s last name
or family name
Term
TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTION
Definition
Words on a grave marker
Term
TRANSCRIBE
Definition
Copy a document or record
word for word
Term
TRANSCRIPTION
Definition
Word-for-word copy, usually of an entire document or record
Term
TWP
Definition
Abbreviation for “Township”
Term
ULTIMO
Definition
Latin word meaning
“month preceding the
current month”

Abbreviated ult.
Term
USCIS
Definition
Abbreviation for United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, the successor
agency of the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services)
Term
VITAL RECORD
Definition
Written account of a birth, death, or marriage
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