For decades there has been one surefire method for succeeding in genealogical research—communication. Long before the Internet, even before the telephone, successful genealogists knew that good communication skills were necessary to acquire family information, and the family historian would work hard to find and correspond with other individuals who were researching the same family lines.

Now, in the twenty-first century, the concept of correspondence also applies to the Internet. E-mail, message boards, chat rooms, and other virtual meeting spaces make it fast and easy to communicate with researchers whose family lines intersect with our own. But there is still one communication route on the Internet that can be easily overlooked by the beginning researcher—surname lists.

What Is a Surname List?
Surname lists and surname registers allow researchers to link their contact information with the surnames they're researching, as well as with other information including migration patterns of the family line, the earliest date associated with research on a particular family line, and the latest date associated with that same research. The result is an easily-scanned list that includes contact information for people conducting similar surname research.

The most popular surname list is the RootsWeb Surname List (RSL), containing more than one million surnames submitted by some 200,000 genealogists. Each surname entry in the RSL is accompanied by associated dates, locations, and a link to the submitter of the information.

To access the RSL, go directly to the RootsWeb Surname List. Choose Search the RSL Database and submit the requested information to perform a search (see Soundex, Metaphone, and Other Search Options, below, for additional information).

In addition to RootsWeb, there are other sites where researchers can search for the surnames they are researching, including various GenWeb sites such as www.worldgenweb.org or www.usgenweb.com.

Adding Information
In addition to searching surnames, researchers may also want to add their own research and information to a surname list. To submit an entry to the RSL, a researcher must first have a nametag—similar to a user-name or a log-on ID. RootsWeb visitors can create their own nametag by selecting Add or Edit Your Surnames from the RSL.

Armed with a nametag, researchers can submit surnames one at a time. Requested information includes Surname—the family name being researched; Begin date—the earliest year for which the researcher has information about the family; End date—the most recent year for which the researcher has information about the family; and Migration—known migration pattern of the family line (for example, if the family started out in Kent County, England, moved to Massachusetts, then to New Hampshire, and finally to Maine, the entry would be KentCo,ENG>MA>NH>ME,USA).

Selecting Post sends the entries directly to the RSL database.

Effective Communication
Regardless of how research is conducted, the only things that are more rewarding than discovering new information on the family being researched are discovering other researchers who are seeking the same family line and sharing information with those researchers. Using the RSL, you can do both, particularly if you adhere to the following guidelines and tips:

1. Be accurate and consistent in the work submitted.
2. Update listings on a regular basis.
3. Correspond quickly and politely with anyone who has posted potentially useful information or who expresses an interest in your surname research.
4. Use Soundex or Metaphone search options to expand the possible results (see Soundex, Metaphone, and Other Search Options below for more information).
5. Return to RootsWeb frequently to view new postings.
6. When searching for females, search for both maiden name and married name.
7. When posting or searching, use the RootsWeb list of common place name abbreviations to help eliminate potential confusion.

Terry and Jim Willard hosted the ten-part PBS Ancestors series. They have researched their family history fifteen generations back on both sides

What do the various Surname, Soundex, and Metaphone search options mean?
Surname
An exact name option that searches only for those names that perfectly match the text entered, character by character. For example, if the surname Willard is typed into the search field, only surnames spelled exactly the same way will be returned as results.

Soundex
A search based on the pronunciation of a surname that converts a surname to a four-digit code comprised of the first letter of the surname followed by three numbers representing letter sounds (Willard becomes W463, where the digits represent the consonants l, r, and d).

Metaphone
A search based on the pronunciation of a surname that converts a surname to a code of 16 possible consonant sounds (Willard becomes WLRT). The benefit of Metaphone is that it handles longer names more efficiently than Soundex.