Genealogy is a specialized study of history with an emphasis on the lives of individuals and families. Because of genealogy’s focus on individuals and families, like many other special pursuits, there are many unique abbreviations and terms that have become commonly used. Those who develop an interest in discovering their ancestors can benefit from knowing some of the more common terms and abbreviations.
Where to begin
The three best ways to begin learning about genealogical research is to start with books, classes, or videos. MyHeritage offers a free online Introduction to Genealogy course. A quick search online about getting started with genealogy will give you a long list of learning opportunities in all three categories. If you run into terms or abbreviations that are unfamiliar, the easiest way to find the meaning of an unknown word or phrase is to do a Google search for the term. For example, let’s suppose you found the word “ consanguineous” in an old legal document. To do a Google search for the meaning of the word “consanguineous,” type “define” followed by the word consanguineous.
Most common abbreviations used in genealogy
Genealogical abbreviations are extremely common as you do research back in time. For example, almost all the early church records in Europe were originally written in Latin and those who kept the records used Latin abbreviations to save ink as well as the time it took to write out the whole word. The tradition of using abbreviations has been continued even in the modern languages of Europe. Some Latin abbreviations have passed into common English usage such as the following: etc., A.D., a.m., p.m., e.g. and many others. Here is a short list of some of the most common English genealogical abbreviations:
| a. or abt. | about |
| ad. | adopted |
| aft. | after |
| b. | born |
| bef. | before |
| bet. | between |
| bp | baptized |
| bur. | buried |
| c. or ca. | circa |
| cem. | cemetery |
| ch. | child or children |
| chr. | christened |
| co. | county |
| d. | died |
| da. | daughter |
| div. | divorced |
| DOB | date of birth |
| DOD | date of death |
| est. | estimated |
| f. | female |
| fa. | father |
| fam. | family |
| g. | great, as in “great grandmother” |
| g.d. | granddaughter |
| g.f. | grandfather |
| g.m. | grandmother |
| g.s. | grandson |
| h. or hus. | husband |
| ill. | illegitimate |
| li. or liv. | living |
| m | married |
| m. | male |
| mat. | maternal |
| mo. | mother |
| na. | naturalized |
| obit. | obituary |
| prob. | probably |
| s | son |
| unk. | unknown |
| w. | wife |
| y. or yr. | year |
Other resources for old genealogical terms
There are several online lists of genealogical terms. Here are two of the most used online lists.
There is also a book with a more extensive list of genealogical terms that include many archaic words also:
- The New A to Zax: A Comprehensive Genealogical Dictionary for Genealogists and Historians by Evans, Barbara Jean (1990)
Abbreviations in old English document
When the old handwritten documents were produced, ink and paper were expensive and hard to obtain. Those who wrote the documents often used a lot of abbreviations to save both ink and paper. Some of these abbreviations are personal to the scribe and the meaning can only be determined by looking through many similarly written records. It may also be possible to find records in the same collection that were written by other scribes who did not use the same abbreviations. Occasionally, the meaning is lost and the information is also lost.
Old legal texts
As you do research back in time, you will discover that words and their meanings change. This happens with all languages and if you go back far enough, the language may be entirely foreign to you. The challenge then becomes the same as learning any language other than your own. Legal language is more conservative than other types of language changes and many current legal terms are based on the original Latin terminology. An essential book for understanding legal terms in any time period is Black’s Law Dictionary. Here is a link to the online version.
DNA terms
Genetic testing to find family connections is relatively new. An extensive dictionary of DNA terms is available on the following website:
See also
Explore more about genealogy terms and abbreviations
Here is a list of resources for additional word lists and abbreviation lists.
- Genealogy Glossary: Common Genealogy Terms Explained on the MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- Deciphering Old Handwriting: Paleography Strategies and Tips on the MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- Abbreviations & Acronyms for Genealogy - The Accepted Genealogy Project at Geni.com
- Abbreviations at ISOGG Wki
- Abbreviations Found in Genealogy Records at FamilySearch Wiki
- Glossary of Genealogy Terms and Abbreviations at Lineages
- Genealogy - Glossary at History Detectives (PBS)
- Key Genealogy Abbreviations to Help Unlock Your Past at Your Dictionary