Soundex to surname lookup table
Moderator: MOD_nyhetsgrupper
Soundex to surname lookup table
Has anyone created a Soundex-to-surname lookup table? Or know of a site
that will give some samples of names with the same Soundex code? The
RootsWeb Soundex Converter will look through its collection of surnames
for ones with the same Soundex code for a name you enter, but I was
hoping for a little broader coverage.
http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter
If not, I was thinking about running the list of surnames from the 1990
census through my surname-to-Soundex converter and generating a table I
could sort by Soundex code.
Ann Turner
that will give some samples of names with the same Soundex code? The
RootsWeb Soundex Converter will look through its collection of surnames
for ones with the same Soundex code for a name you enter, but I was
hoping for a little broader coverage.
http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter
If not, I was thinking about running the list of surnames from the 1990
census through my surname-to-Soundex converter and generating a table I
could sort by Soundex code.
Ann Turner
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
DNACousins wrote:
PAF 2.0 had one built in (g). When you soundexed any name, it returned
a list of other names in your db with that code.
And, my husband did a FORTRAN routine that ran on a mainframe for me once?
Cheryl
Has anyone created a Soundex-to-surname lookup table? Or know of a site
that will give some samples of names with the same Soundex code? The
RootsWeb Soundex Converter will look through its collection of surnames
for ones with the same Soundex code for a name you enter, but I was
hoping for a little broader coverage.
http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter
If not, I was thinking about running the list of surnames from the 1990
census through my surname-to-Soundex converter and generating a table I
could sort by Soundex code.
Ann Turner
PAF 2.0 had one built in (g). When you soundexed any name, it returned
a list of other names in your db with that code.
And, my husband did a FORTRAN routine that ran on a mainframe for me once?
Cheryl
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
DNACousins wrote:
You could look at http://www.imagepartners.co.uk/Thesaurus/ and
http://www.tobs.org.uk/
Has anyone created a Soundex-to-surname lookup table? Or know of a site
that will give some samples of names with the same Soundex code? The
RootsWeb Soundex Converter will look through its collection of surnames
for ones with the same Soundex code for a name you enter, but I was
hoping for a little broader coverage.
http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter
If not, I was thinking about running the list of surnames from the 1990
census through my surname-to-Soundex converter and generating a table I
could sort by Soundex code.
Ann Turner
You could look at http://www.imagepartners.co.uk/Thesaurus/ and
http://www.tobs.org.uk/
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Thanks -- that gives me a good selection of surnames. Cheryl mentioned
PAF -- my own database would be pretty meager compared to the Thesaurus

PAF -- my own database would be pretty meager compared to the Thesaurus

Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Le 5 Jan 2005 06:40:12 -0800, "DNACousins" <[email protected]> a
écrit :
To get a surname/soundex table using LifeLines :
================ soundexlist.ll ==========
global(namelist)
global(nametable)
global(indiv)
global(count)
global(onename)
global(mysoundex)
proc main ()
{
table(nametable)
list(namelist)
set(countname, 0)
forindi(indiv, count) {
set(onename, surname(indiv))
if(not(lookup(nametable, onename))) {
set(mysoundex, strsoundex(onename))
insert(nametable, onename, mysoundex)
push(namelist, onename)
}
}
forlist(namelist, onename, count) {
onename ";" lookup(nametable, onename) nl()
}
}
==========================================
Output sample :
Texier;T260
Bret;B630
Touzeau;T200
Fillaud;F430
Brunet;B653
Nibaudeau;N130
Charré;C600
Damblant;D514
Rousset;R230
Allart;A463
Rochat;R230
Auvillain;A145
Thomas;T520
Ripoteau;R130
--
Patrick Texier
écrit :
Has anyone created a Soundex-to-surname lookup table?
To get a surname/soundex table using LifeLines :
================ soundexlist.ll ==========
global(namelist)
global(nametable)
global(indiv)
global(count)
global(onename)
global(mysoundex)
proc main ()
{
table(nametable)
list(namelist)
set(countname, 0)
forindi(indiv, count) {
set(onename, surname(indiv))
if(not(lookup(nametable, onename))) {
set(mysoundex, strsoundex(onename))
insert(nametable, onename, mysoundex)
push(namelist, onename)
}
}
forlist(namelist, onename, count) {
onename ";" lookup(nametable, onename) nl()
}
}
==========================================
Output sample :
Texier;T260
Bret;B630
Touzeau;T200
Fillaud;F430
Brunet;B653
Nibaudeau;N130
Charré;C600
Damblant;D514
Rousset;R230
Allart;A463
Rochat;R230
Auvillain;A145
Thomas;T520
Ripoteau;R130
--
Patrick Texier
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Even Google failed me on this one. I couldn't spot an explanation for
the column headings C1881, NBI, EO and SO. I presume C1881 is 1881
census -- how about the others?
the column headings C1881, NBI, EO and SO. I presume C1881 is 1881
census -- how about the others?
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
NBI = National Burial Index
EO and SO no idea
"DNACousins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
EO and SO no idea
"DNACousins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Even Google failed me on this one. I couldn't spot an explanation for
the column headings C1881, NBI, EO and SO. I presume C1881 is 1881
census -- how about the others?
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Robert Burns wrote:
Try English Origins & Scots Origins.
HTH
Bob
NBI = National Burial Index
EO and SO no idea
"DNACousins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
Even Google failed me on this one. I couldn't spot an explanation for
the column headings C1881, NBI, EO and SO. I presume C1881 is 1881
census -- how about the others?
Try English Origins & Scots Origins.
HTH
Bob
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Hello Anne and fellow listers,
Before I provide a lengthy into on Soundex coding - just to clear up the
other abbreviations that came up recently:
NBI - National Burial Index
EO - English Origins
SO - Scottish Origins
IO - if it turns up, could be Irish Origins or the Isle of Wight. We need
to be a little more precise in our communications with other researchers.
The EO and SO likely evolved as a personal preference.
Now, on to Soundex coding!
It might be of interest to learn how to manually code a Soundex number as
from that knowledge you would be able to discern what surnames would fit
into your code, even if those numbers were not in your database of family
surnames! For those of you who wish to learn the system from the inside
out, and it's not difficult, here follows an explanation:
A. Soundexing of records sorts surnames by a four character mixed coded
reference which begins with the first letter of the surname. Once the
leading alphabetic letter of the surname has been used, it will never be
employed again in creating the remaining three digit portion of the Code.
Using your surname as an example, the 'T' from your Turner surname would
form the leading character of the code.
B. Next, cross out all of the vowels which appear in the surname: a, e, i,
o, u,
C. Next, cross out any and all of the following letters - rogue vowels and
consonants: y, w, h
D. You now have a name left with nothing but pure consonants. Are there
any double letters in the name, eg. Donnatelli. Eliminate one 'n' and one
'l' from the remaining consonants. So, the remaining consonants in
'Donnatelli' to be coded would be the letters 'n', 't' and 'l'.
E. The three remaining digits of a Soundex code of a surname are drawn only
from the first three single consonants remaining in the surname. If the
surname has a fourth, fifth or sixth consonant remaining, that is
immaterial - only the first three consonants are used. Follow these steps:
i. Take the first letter of the surname and write it as it is - returning to
the Turner surname as the example here, we have a code shaping up with a 'T'
in the leading position of the code and which will precede three numeric
digits.
ii. Code the first three remaining consonants in your surname, which in
this case are 'r', 'n' and 'r' in accordance with the following code chart:
1. B P F V
2. C S K G J Q X Z
3. D T
4. L
5. M
6. N
7. R
So we see that the letter 'r' codes to the number 7, 'n' to the number 6,
and 'r' to the number 7 once again. Voila! Your Soundex code for the
Turner surname is T767. Now, every other surname, regardless of ethnicity,
that bears the same arrangement of consonants as are found in your
surname - a leading "T", followed by an 'r', followed by an 'n' and followed
by an 'r' - will also be Soundex code T767, example: Tarrenor, Tarrenridge,
and so on. You can immediately see that code T767 will cover many, perhaps
hundreds, of vastly different surnames. It becomes easier over time to
recognize a surname with similar properties that would likely break down
into similar soundex codes.
iii. If, by chance, there are only two letters remaining in the surname that
can be coded, add a '0' to the end of the soundex number to make up the
third digit. Similarly, if there is only one consonant remaining in the
surname, code that consonant in accordance with the chart above and add two
'0's to complete the three numeric characters of the code.
Example #1:
Surname: Williams
Step 1) 'W' - 'illiams' remains of the surname
Step 2) the consonants are eliminated leaving only the letters 'l', 'l',
'm', and 's'
Step 3) the second of the letters 'l' is crossed out, leaving only 'l', 'm
', and 's'
Step 3) 'l' = 4; 'm' = 5; 's' = 2
Soundex Code for the surname 'Williams' is W452.
Example #2:
Surname: Young
Step 1) Y -' oung' remains of the surname
Step 2) no double consonants so 'oung' still remains
Step 3) the letters 'o' and 'u' are removed leaving only 'n' and 'g'
Step 4) 'n' = 5; 'g' = 2
Step 5) only two letters remained so '0' has to be added to the end of the
code
Soundex Code for the surname Young is Y520.
I hope this answers your queries adequately.
Best wishes,
Susan D. Young
[email protected]
http://www.ancestrysolutions.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "DNACousins" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 9:40 AM
Subject: Soundex to surname lookup table
Before I provide a lengthy into on Soundex coding - just to clear up the
other abbreviations that came up recently:
NBI - National Burial Index
EO - English Origins
SO - Scottish Origins
IO - if it turns up, could be Irish Origins or the Isle of Wight. We need
to be a little more precise in our communications with other researchers.
The EO and SO likely evolved as a personal preference.
Now, on to Soundex coding!
It might be of interest to learn how to manually code a Soundex number as
from that knowledge you would be able to discern what surnames would fit
into your code, even if those numbers were not in your database of family
surnames! For those of you who wish to learn the system from the inside
out, and it's not difficult, here follows an explanation:
A. Soundexing of records sorts surnames by a four character mixed coded
reference which begins with the first letter of the surname. Once the
leading alphabetic letter of the surname has been used, it will never be
employed again in creating the remaining three digit portion of the Code.
Using your surname as an example, the 'T' from your Turner surname would
form the leading character of the code.
B. Next, cross out all of the vowels which appear in the surname: a, e, i,
o, u,
C. Next, cross out any and all of the following letters - rogue vowels and
consonants: y, w, h
D. You now have a name left with nothing but pure consonants. Are there
any double letters in the name, eg. Donnatelli. Eliminate one 'n' and one
'l' from the remaining consonants. So, the remaining consonants in
'Donnatelli' to be coded would be the letters 'n', 't' and 'l'.
E. The three remaining digits of a Soundex code of a surname are drawn only
from the first three single consonants remaining in the surname. If the
surname has a fourth, fifth or sixth consonant remaining, that is
immaterial - only the first three consonants are used. Follow these steps:
i. Take the first letter of the surname and write it as it is - returning to
the Turner surname as the example here, we have a code shaping up with a 'T'
in the leading position of the code and which will precede three numeric
digits.
ii. Code the first three remaining consonants in your surname, which in
this case are 'r', 'n' and 'r' in accordance with the following code chart:
1. B P F V
2. C S K G J Q X Z
3. D T
4. L
5. M
6. N
7. R
So we see that the letter 'r' codes to the number 7, 'n' to the number 6,
and 'r' to the number 7 once again. Voila! Your Soundex code for the
Turner surname is T767. Now, every other surname, regardless of ethnicity,
that bears the same arrangement of consonants as are found in your
surname - a leading "T", followed by an 'r', followed by an 'n' and followed
by an 'r' - will also be Soundex code T767, example: Tarrenor, Tarrenridge,
and so on. You can immediately see that code T767 will cover many, perhaps
hundreds, of vastly different surnames. It becomes easier over time to
recognize a surname with similar properties that would likely break down
into similar soundex codes.
iii. If, by chance, there are only two letters remaining in the surname that
can be coded, add a '0' to the end of the soundex number to make up the
third digit. Similarly, if there is only one consonant remaining in the
surname, code that consonant in accordance with the chart above and add two
'0's to complete the three numeric characters of the code.
Example #1:
Surname: Williams
Step 1) 'W' - 'illiams' remains of the surname
Step 2) the consonants are eliminated leaving only the letters 'l', 'l',
'm', and 's'
Step 3) the second of the letters 'l' is crossed out, leaving only 'l', 'm
', and 's'
Step 3) 'l' = 4; 'm' = 5; 's' = 2
Soundex Code for the surname 'Williams' is W452.
Example #2:
Surname: Young
Step 1) Y -' oung' remains of the surname
Step 2) no double consonants so 'oung' still remains
Step 3) the letters 'o' and 'u' are removed leaving only 'n' and 'g'
Step 4) 'n' = 5; 'g' = 2
Step 5) only two letters remained so '0' has to be added to the end of the
code
Soundex Code for the surname Young is Y520.
I hope this answers your queries adequately.
Best wishes,
Susan D. Young
[email protected]
http://www.ancestrysolutions.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "DNACousins" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 9:40 AM
Subject: Soundex to surname lookup table
Has anyone created a Soundex-to-surname lookup table? Or know of a site
that will give some samples of names with the same Soundex code? The
RootsWeb Soundex Converter will look through its collection of surnames
for ones with the same Soundex code for a name you enter, but I was
hoping for a little broader coverage.
http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter
If not, I was thinking about running the list of surnames from the 1990
census through my surname-to-Soundex converter and generating a table I
could sort by Soundex code.
Ann Turner
______________________________
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Le Thu, 6 Jan 2005 06:13:25 +0000 (UTC), [email protected] ("Susan
D. Young") écrivait dans soc.genealogy.computing:
BeauReGaRd, a name I know, is B626. You made some mistake...
Denis
D. Young") écrivait dans soc.genealogy.computing:
ii. Code the first three remaining consonants in your surname, which in
this case are 'r', 'n' and 'r' in accordance with the following code chart:
1. B P F V
2. C S K G J Q X Z
3. D T
4. L
5. M
6. N
7. R
BeauReGaRd, a name I know, is B626. You made some mistake...
Denis
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
On 5 Jan 2005 06:40:12 -0800, "DNACousins" <[email protected]> wrote:
Interesting idea!
FreeBMD has a huge surname resource and could do something like that.
--
Dave Mayall
Has anyone created a Soundex-to-surname lookup table? Or know of a site
that will give some samples of names with the same Soundex code? The
RootsWeb Soundex Converter will look through its collection of surnames
for ones with the same Soundex code for a name you enter, but I was
hoping for a little broader coverage.
http://resources.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/soundexconverter
If not, I was thinking about running the list of surnames from the 1990
census through my surname-to-Soundex converter and generating a table I
could sort by Soundex code.
Interesting idea!
FreeBMD has a huge surname resource and could do something like that.
--
Dave Mayall
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Le Thu, 06 Jan 2005 02:32:36 -0500, Denis Beauregard
<[email protected]> a écrit :
End of table, M and N are 5.
1 B, F, P, V
2 C, G, J, K, Q, S, X, Z
3 D, T
4 L
5 M, N
6 R
And 0 for no letter, Bret is B630.
--
Patrick Texier
<[email protected]> a écrit :
BeauReGaRd, a name I know, is B626. You made some mistake...
End of table, M and N are 5.
1 B, F, P, V
2 C, G, J, K, Q, S, X, Z
3 D, T
4 L
5 M, N
6 R
And 0 for no letter, Bret is B630.
--
Patrick Texier
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
On Thu, 6 Jan 2005 06:13:25 +0000 (UTC), [email protected] ("Susan
D. Young") wrote:
Which isn't entirely accurate!
Not quite. You don't remove them, you give them a value of "0" - it
matters later on.
No, don't do this. You don't want to remove just double letters, you
want to remove doubles of a group.
M/N are both 5 R is 6
TURNER
T06506
THEN remove zeros
T656 (it doesn't alter the outcome here
Examples where using the wrong methodology makes a difference
HISCOCK
By your method
HSCCK
HSCK
H222
By the correct method
H022022
H0202
H220
--
Dave Mayall
D. Young") wrote:
It might be of interest to learn how to manually code a Soundex number as
from that knowledge you would be able to discern what surnames would fit
into your code, even if those numbers were not in your database of family
surnames! For those of you who wish to learn the system from the inside
out, and it's not difficult, here follows an explanation:
Which isn't entirely accurate!
A. Soundexing of records sorts surnames by a four character mixed coded
reference which begins with the first letter of the surname. Once the
leading alphabetic letter of the surname has been used, it will never be
employed again in creating the remaining three digit portion of the Code.
Using your surname as an example, the 'T' from your Turner surname would
form the leading character of the code.
B. Next, cross out all of the vowels which appear in the surname: a, e, i,
o, u,
C. Next, cross out any and all of the following letters - rogue vowels and
consonants: y, w, h
Not quite. You don't remove them, you give them a value of "0" - it
matters later on.
D. You now have a name left with nothing but pure consonants. Are there
any double letters in the name, eg. Donnatelli. Eliminate one 'n' and one
'l' from the remaining consonants. So, the remaining consonants in
'Donnatelli' to be coded would be the letters 'n', 't' and 'l'.
No, don't do this. You don't want to remove just double letters, you
want to remove doubles of a group.
E. The three remaining digits of a Soundex code of a surname are drawn only
from the first three single consonants remaining in the surname. If the
surname has a fourth, fifth or sixth consonant remaining, that is
immaterial - only the first three consonants are used. Follow these steps:
i. Take the first letter of the surname and write it as it is - returning to
the Turner surname as the example here, we have a code shaping up with a 'T'
in the leading position of the code and which will precede three numeric
digits.
ii. Code the first three remaining consonants in your surname, which in
this case are 'r', 'n' and 'r' in accordance with the following code chart:
1. B P F V
2. C S K G J Q X Z
3. D T
4. L
5. M
6. N
7. R
M/N are both 5 R is 6
So we see that the letter 'r' codes to the number 7, 'n' to the number 6,
and 'r' to the number 7 once again. Voila! Your Soundex code for the
Turner surname is T767. Now, every other surname, regardless of ethnicity,
that bears the same arrangement of consonants as are found in your
surname - a leading "T", followed by an 'r', followed by an 'n' and followed
by an 'r' - will also be Soundex code T767, example: Tarrenor, Tarrenridge,
and so on. You can immediately see that code T767 will cover many, perhaps
hundreds, of vastly different surnames. It becomes easier over time to
recognize a surname with similar properties that would likely break down
into similar soundex codes.
TURNER
T06506
THEN remove zeros
T656 (it doesn't alter the outcome here
Examples where using the wrong methodology makes a difference
HISCOCK
By your method
HSCCK
HSCK
H222
By the correct method
H022022
H0202
H220
--
Dave Mayall
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Thanks, Susan, for the abbreviations.
Actually, there's a revision to this revision, if you want to code
names to match the way the census index was done. You do cross out H
and W. Older Soundex converters, such as the one found in the DOS
version of PAF, don't do this correctly. I think I may even have been
the one who stirred up the pot about this, back in the days when I was
writing utilities for PAF 2.31 and working with the programmer for the
Tafel Matching System at Commsoft (Roots III).
The correct coding for Ashcroft is A261, not A226, as it would be if
you considered the H to be a separator on a par with a vowel.
My purpose in asking this question was to gather examples of surnames
with the same Soundex code for an article I'm writing on how DNA
testing can sometimes show if variant spellings of a surname do or do
not have a common origin. There are some DNA surname projects that
welcome so many variants that they sometimes include a Soundex code
just to cover the bases. But that ends up being over-inclusive and at
the same time omitting some good candidates.For example, Kerchner K625
gets a much more focused list at NameX compared to Soundex, but neither
one includes names starting with C, which Metaphone does. The NameX
site was a very interesting way to compare the different systems.
Ann Turner - GENEALOGY-DNA List Administrator
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/D ... Y-DNA.html
author of "Trace Your Roots with DNA"
C. Next, cross out any and all of the following letters - rogue
vowels and
consonants: y, w, h
Not quite. You don't remove them, you give them a value of "0" - it
matters later on.
Actually, there's a revision to this revision, if you want to code
names to match the way the census index was done. You do cross out H
and W. Older Soundex converters, such as the one found in the DOS
version of PAF, don't do this correctly. I think I may even have been
the one who stirred up the pot about this, back in the days when I was
writing utilities for PAF 2.31 and working with the programmer for the
Tafel Matching System at Commsoft (Roots III).
The correct coding for Ashcroft is A261, not A226, as it would be if
you considered the H to be a separator on a par with a vowel.
My purpose in asking this question was to gather examples of surnames
with the same Soundex code for an article I'm writing on how DNA
testing can sometimes show if variant spellings of a surname do or do
not have a common origin. There are some DNA surname projects that
welcome so many variants that they sometimes include a Soundex code
just to cover the bases. But that ends up being over-inclusive and at
the same time omitting some good candidates.For example, Kerchner K625
gets a much more focused list at NameX compared to Soundex, but neither
one includes names starting with C, which Metaphone does. The NameX
site was a very interesting way to compare the different systems.
Ann Turner - GENEALOGY-DNA List Administrator
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/D ... Y-DNA.html
author of "Trace Your Roots with DNA"
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
Patrick Texier wrote:
Yes, but what she wants is: what names/letter combinations could H652
represent? A reverse-soundex.
Cheryl
Le 5 Jan 2005 06:40:12 -0800, "DNACousins" <[email protected]> a
écrit :
Has anyone created a Soundex-to-surname lookup table?
To get a surname/soundex table using LifeLines :
Yes, but what she wants is: what names/letter combinations could H652
represent? A reverse-soundex.
Cheryl
Re: Soundex to surname lookup table
DNACousins wrote:
C621 - Soundex code for Cresap/Chrissop, Crosby/Crosbie, Crazy Bull, and
5 or 6 odder ones, including a couple Greek surnames. You have to (a)
be pretty drunk or (b) have a truly thick accent to make those names
"sound alike". (g)
Cheryl
not have a common origin. There are some DNA surname projects that
welcome so many variants that they sometimes include a Soundex code
just to cover the bases. But that ends up being over-inclusive and at
the same time omitting some good candidates.For example, Kerchner K625
gets a much more focused list at NameX compared to Soundex, but neither
one includes names starting with C, which Metaphone does. The NameX
site was a very interesting way to compare the different systems.
C621 - Soundex code for Cresap/Chrissop, Crosby/Crosbie, Crazy Bull, and
5 or 6 odder ones, including a couple Greek surnames. You have to (a)
be pretty drunk or (b) have a truly thick accent to make those names
"sound alike". (g)
Cheryl