GeneaNet: Recording Place Names

The generally accepted method for recording place names is to begin with the smallest locality first and then up to the largest. You would therefore begin with the town or city name, then the county or district name, then the state or province name, and lastly the country name.

In the GeneaNet database, data is indexed in a semicolon-separated list as shown below:

BAXTER;1846;1846;1;Palgrave,IP22,Suffolk,England;SFK;ENG;GBR
BAXTER;1778;1829;4;Diss,IP22,Suffolk,England;SFK;ENG;GBR

Fields:

– Surname
– Start Date
– End Date
– Number of entries for the surname
– Full Place Name
– County Code
– Province/State Code
– Country Code

If the place names are correctly recorded in your family tree, searchers will easily find your ancestors in the GeneaNet database!