When we're searching databases for those hard to find ancestors, we often find ourselves rotating through any number of variations for that surname, and it's easy to lose track of which variations we've tried. Keep a master list of surnames and their variations handy by your computer and then go down the list to get a more complete search than you would by entering names at random. It serves as a reminder, so you don't miss anything and also makes it easier to keep a log of what names and variations you've searched for.

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