McNairs on WikiTree - Annual Report

Question

Continuing my project of tracking surnames from my immediate ancestors and those of my wife, in this report, I'm looking at McNairs.

Since the beginning of February, nine new profiles with McNair as the Last Name At Birth have been added to WikiTree, leaving the current total at 1,344 McNairs. Of those, four are currently marked as unsourced, leaving 1,341 profiles (presumably) sourced. There was no change in the number of profiles marked as unsourced during the month. Currently, 243 McNairs are unconnected from the main tree, leaving 1,186 McNairs connected. That's an increase of two connected McNairs.

At the beginning of February, none of the 17 deceased McNairs listed on ThePeerage.com had profiles on WikiTree. Now, there is a profile for one of them, or 5.9%. A month ago, there were eight profiles on WikiTree out of the 23 McNairs listed on Wikipedia. Now, there are 11 profiles, or 47.8%.

The number of profiles of people listed on ThePeerage.com with at least one primary source increased from zero to one over the course of the month, so the percentage of sourced profiles went from nothing to 100%. During the same period, the percentage of profiles of people listed on Wikipedia with at least one primary source decreased slightly from 83.3% to 81.8%, as new profiles were added which do not (yet) have primary sources.

The percentage of profiles of people listed on ThePeerage.com that are connected to the main tree remained at 0% over the course of the month. At the same time, the percentage of profiles of people listed on Wikipedia that are connected to the main tree decreased from 50% to 36.4%, due to new notable McNairs being added to WikiTree, but not connected yet.

Comments

I wasn't working on McNairs last month, nor do I plan to this month, but while I was tallying up the surnames that I was working on last month (and those I plan to work on this month), I thought I'd check in and see how McNairs are progressing.

Since the beginning of March, another eight new profiles with McNair as the Last Name At Birth have been added to WikiTree, leaving the current total at 1,352 McNairs. Of those, four are currently marked as unsourced, leaving 1,348 profiles (presumably) sourced. There was no change in the number of profiles marked as unsourced during the month. Currently, 153 McNairs are unconnected from the main tree, leaving 1,199 McNairs connected. That's an increase of 13 connected McNairs, and a decrease of six unconnected McNairs over the course of the month.

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Here are some McNairs from ThePeerage.com who don't have profiles on WikiTree:

• Archibald McNair
• Arthur James McNair
• Beverley McNair
• Dorothy McNair
• Duncan McNair
• Elizabeth Alcock McNair - added 2023-12-27.
• John McNair
• John Ballantyne McNair
• Julia A. McNair
• Marjorie McNair
• Sheila Margaret Ramsay McNair
• William McNair

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Here are some McNairs from Wikipedia who don't have profiles on WikiTree:

• Andrew McNair - ringer of the Liberty Bell
• Frederick Valette McNair - U.S. Navy rear admiral - added 2023-05-13
• Ian McNair - Australian market research expert
• John McNair - U.S. congress member from Pennsylvania
• Lesley J. McNair - U.S. Army general
• Rick McNair - Canadian athlete, coach, playwright, and director
• Robin McNair - R.A.F. fighter pilot and aviation executive
• Steve McNair - NFL quarterback
• William N. McNair - mayor of Pittsburgh
• William S. McNair - U.S. Army general
• William Watts McNair - British surveyor
• William Woodbridge McNair - mayor of St. Anthony, Minnesota

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For anybody who's interested, our "Brick Wall" McNair ancestor is Archibald McNair, born in 1630 (or thenabouts). I managed to push the line back a generation last year, and connect to a line already established by Robert Nickel that goes back five more generations. (Although the oldest couple of generations needs locations and sources.)

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I managed to link together two McNair lineages by creating the missing linking profile, and that linkage has moved our McNair "brick wall" back six generations to Archibald McNair, born in 1630.

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I was able to connect Admiral Frederick Vallette McNair Sr.(McNair-1904) and his son Captain Frederick Vallette McNair Jr. (McNair-1903), who earned the Medal of Honor.

Jr. is my living grandaunt's grandfather. Her father was also a Navy Admiral.

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Thank you, Brian! That improves the numbers nicely. I should have checked to see if any notable McNairs has been added before doing the month-end report, but I have four more reports to do, and I'm well behind. But next year's chart will show the correct numbers for this month.

Answer 1

As of May 3, there were 2,189 WikiTree profiles for people with McNair as their Last Name At Birth. That's an increase of 384 profiles since the beginning of June 2023.

I am introducing two more datasets this year. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists 80 war dead with a last name of McNair. So far, I have found four with WikiTree profiles (5%). ThePeerage.com lists 66 McNairs. Of those, 14 have a different Last Name At Birth, 21 are living, and there are eight duplicate entries, leaving a net of 23 deceased McNairs. Of those, seven (30.4%) have WikiTree profiles. The Veterans Legacy Memorial lists 604 veterans with a surname of McNair. So far, I have found three with WikiTree profiles (0.5%). Wikipedia has entries for 44 McNairs. Of those, 15 are living, one has a different Last Name At Birth, and one is a fictional character, leaving 27 deceased notable McNairs. Of those, 16 (59.3%) have WikiTree profiles.

I am no longer going to put up charts showing connection status (except possibly for the surnames with the smallest number of profiles) because the number of profiles is so huge that even relatively large changes in the number of profiles at each connection status don't result in visible changes in the charts.

The percentage of all McNair profiles  that are connected to the main tree has increased slightly from 88.8% to 92.1% since last June. The percentage of connected McNair profiles from the Commonwealth War Games Commission, ThePeerage.com, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Wikipedia, and our watchlist currently stand at 100%, 100%, 100%, 68.8%, and 100%, respectively.

The percentage of McNair profiles from the Commonwealth War Games Commission, ThePeerage.com, Veterans Legacy Memorial, and Wikipedia that link back to that person's entry on that other site currently stand at 50%, 57.1%, 0%, and 100%, respectively.

The percentage of McNair profiles from the Commonwealth War Games Commission, ThePeerage.com, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Wikipedia, and our watchlists that have images on them currently stand at 50%, 0%, 33.3%, 56.3%, and 0%, respectively.

Comments

Of the 2,189 McNair profiles on WikiTree, five are currently marked as unsourced, leaving an improbably high 2,184 profiles (99.8%) at least supposedly sourced. The percentage of McNair profiles from the Commonwealth War Games Commission, ThePeerage.com, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Wikipedia, and our watchlists that have at least one primary source currently stand at 50%, 57.1%, 100%, 100%, and 100%, respectively.

The average sourcing level for McNairs from the Commonwealth War Games Commission, ThePeerage.com, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Wikipedia, and our watchlists currently stand at 1.0, 1.9, 1.7, 2.2, and 1.7, respectively.

The number of "tallied" profiles (the Commonwealth War Games Commission, ThePeerage.com, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Wikipedia, and our watchlists) with no sources (level 0) increased by one since last June. The number with no primary sources (level 0.5) increased by three. The number with one primary source (level 1) increased by one. The number with two primary sources (level 2) increased by two. The number with three or more primary sources (level 3) increased by three.

The percentage of all McNair profiles on WikiTree which are partially sourced barely show as a thin light orange line in the chart. For the tallied profiles, I depend on the counts in my spreadsheet, where I assign sourcing levels as I check the profiles. For WikiTree as a whole, I depend on WikiTree to get a count of profiles with the {{Unsourced}} template, and WikiTree+ (thank you, Aleš!) to get a count of profiles with the appropriate [[Category:Location,_Needs_More_Records]] category applied. But because both templates and categories are applied manually, there are a ton of profiles to which they should be applied, but haven't been yet. So that's why the tallied profiles show as nearly 40% "fully sourced", while all profiles show as nearly 100% "fully sourced". (This is one big reason why I keep saying that such-and-such a percentage of profiles on WikiTree is "supposedly" sourced.) As the appropriate [[Category:Location,_Needs_More_Records]] categories and the {{Unsourced}} template get applied to more McNair profiles where they're needed, both lines should get more visible. That might seem like going backwards, but it would actually be progress, because the numbers would more accurately reflect the state of McNair profiles. (Of course, sourcing those profiles which are unsourced or partially sourced, but aren't marked that way, would be better still, but even if you can't find any sources, marking the profiles appropriately would alert Sourcerers to profiles where their efforts are needed.)

Answer 2

Thanks for sharing this.  I will check to make sure my McNair profiles all have sources.  I have been trying to get my McNair cousins to join and help me add more names.

Comments

I would love to see that. McNairs do seem to be under-represented on WikiTree.

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I’ve added quite a few McNairs from Argyll, Scotland.

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Thank you, Joelle!

Answer 3

As of May 1, there were 1,583 WikiTree profiles for people with McNair as their Last Name At Birth. That's an increase of 34 profiles since the beginning of January.

There are 60 McNairs listed on ThePeerage.com. Out of those, there are eight duplicate entries, 21 living people, and 14 people with a Last Name At Birth other than McNair, leaving a net of 17 McNairs. Of those, one (4.6%) has a WikiTree profile.

Of the 39 McNairs listed on WikiTree, there are one person with a Last Name At Birth other than McNair, one fictional character, and 14 living people, leaving a net of 23 McNairs. Of those, 11 (47.8%) have WikiTree profiles.

The percentage of all West profiles that are connected to the main tree currently stands at 88.1%. The percentage of connected West profiles from ThePeerage.com and our watchlists stand at 100%. The percentage of connnected profiles from Wikipedia stands at 54.5%.

Comments

Of the 1,583 McNair profiles on WikiTree, three are currently marked as unsourced, leaving 1,580 profiles (99.8%) supposedly sourced. The only McNair profile listed in ThePeerage.com has at least one primary source, as do nine of the 11 profiles of McNairs listed in Wikipedia (81.8%).

The average sourcing level for McNairs from ThePeerage.com currently stands at 3.0. The average sourcing level for McNairs from Wikipedia stands at 1.5. The average sourcing level for McNair profiles from our watchlists stands at 1.2.

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I started another thread: "Would anybody like to create profiles for some notable McNairs?" and several people took up the challenge. So, I added a few more McNairs to the list.

Answer 4

As of the day before yesterday, there were 1,589 WikiTree profiles for people with McNair as their Last Name At Birth. That's an increase of six profiles since the beginning of May.

There are 65 McNairs listed on ThePeerage.com. Out of those, the are eight duplicate entries, 21 living people, and 14 people with a Last Name At Birth other than McNair, leaving a net of 22 McNairs, two (9.1%) of whom have WikiTree profiles.

Wikipedia has entries for 41 McNairs. Of those, there are one person with a Last Name At Birth other than McNair, one fictional character, and 15 living people, leaving a net of 24 McNairs. Of those, 14 (58.3%) have WikiTree profiles.

Comments

The percentage of all McNair profiles that are connected to the main tree dropped slightly from 88.1% to 88.0% during May. That comes from two more unconnected profiles over the course of the month. The percentage of connected McNair profiles from ThePeerage.com and our watchlists remained at 100%, while the percentage of connnected profiles from Wikipedia dropped from 54.5% to 42.9% due to the addition of new profiles that haven't been connected yet.

I'm adding a new measure this year, showing the percentage of McNair profiles which are connected to the main tree, not connected to the main tree but linked to at least one other profile, and not linked to any other profile. (This measure is made possible by Aleš's cool reports.) Hopefully, over time, you should see the percentage of unlinked and unconnected profiles going down, and the percentage of connected profiles going up.

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Of the 1,589 McNair profiles on WikiTree, five are currently marked as unsourced, leaving 1,584 profiles (99.7%) supposedly sourced. Of the two profiles of McNairs listed in ThePeerage.com, both (100%) have at least one primary source. Of the 14 profiles of McNairs listed in Wikipedia, 12 (85.7%) have at least one primary source.

The average sourcing level for McNairs from ThePeerage.com remained at 3.0 over the course of May. The average sourcing level for McNairs from Wikipedia increased from 1.5 to 1.6. Average sourcing levels for McNair profiles from our watchlists increased from 1.2 to 1.5.

I have added another new measure for sourcing levels, showing the percentage of "tallied" profiles (profiles from ThePeerage.com, Wikipedia and from our watchlists) at each sourcing level. Hopefully, over time, you should see the percentage of profiles at level 0 (unsourced) and level 0.5 (no primary sources) go down, and the number of profiles at level 3 (three or more primary sources) go up.

And still another new measure. This one shows the percentage of "tallied" profiles (profiles from ThePeerage.com, Wikipedia, and our watchlists) and WikiTree as a whole which are unsourced, partially sourced (at least a secondary source), and "fully" sourced* (at least three primary sources). This chart shows the difficulty in measuring sourcing levels for WikiTree as a whole, or even a single Last Name At Birth on WikiTree: for the tallied profiles, I depend on the counts in my spreadsheet, where I assign sourcing levels as I check the profiles. For WikiTree as a whole, I depend on WikiTree to get a count of profiles with the {{Unsourced}} template, and WikiTree+ (thank you, Aleš!) to get a count of profiles with either [[Category:More_Records_Needed]] or [[Category:Profiles_with_Incomplete_Sourcing]]. (I imagine that the Categorization Project will merge those two category hierarchies eventually.) But because both templates and categories are applied manually, there are a ton of profiles to which they should be applied, but haven't been yet. So that's why the tallied profiles show as less than 25% "fully sourced", while all profiles show as more than 95% "fully sourced". (This is one big reason why I keep saying that such-and-such a percentage of profiles on WikiTree is "supposedly" sourced.) Note that the average percentage of profiles with no primary sources across the 31 surnames that I'm tracking is about 5%, so the percentage for McNairs is improbably low. (In fact, despite me adding the {{Unsourced}} template to dozens of McNair profiles last month, the count only went up by one profile. That might mean that somebody was following after me and sourcing profiles that I couldn't -- which would be great -- or it might mean that people are removing the {{Unsourced}} template from profiles that they manage because they're afraid it makes them look bad -- which would definitely not be great.)

 * Yes, I know that three primary sources doesn't actually qualify as fully sourced, because ideally every fact stated in a biography should be backed up by at least one primary source, but I based my sourcing levels on the work of Paul Gierszewski, who first came up with a system for measuring how well profiles are sourced.

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And one final new measure. I've been measuring the number of profiles of people listed on ThePeerage.com and Wikipedia which contain links to those people's entries on those sites, but I hadn't been tracking how those numbers changed over time up to now.

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Ah. An update on the issue of the number of unsourced profiles not going up. I went back through the report of my McNair contributions last month, and, out of the profiles I checked, every one that I had added the {{Unsourced}} template to still had it, but they weren't showing up in the Unsourced Profiles category (even the ones that I had edited weeks ago). So apparently, there's an issue with that category getting updated. I've added the "tech" tag to this thread to alert Chris and the rest of the codewrights.

Answer 5

As of Saturday, there were 1,768 WikiTree profiles for people with McNair as their Last Name At Birth. That's an increase of 77 profiles since the beginning of January.

ThePeerage.com lists 66 McNairs. Of those, 14 have a different Last Name At Birth, 21 are living, and there are eight duplicate entries, leaving a net of 22 deceased McNairs. Of those, two (9.1%) have WikiTree profiles. Wikipedia has entries for 44 McNairs. Of those, 15 are living, one has a different Last Name At Birth, and one is a fictional character, leaving 27 deceased notable McNairs. Of those, 14 (51.9%) have WikiTree profiles.

The percentage of McNair profiles from ThePeerage.com and from our family that are connected to the main tree has remained at 100% since last June. The percentage of connected McNair profiles from Wikipedia increased from 42.9% to 50%. The percent of all McNair profiles on WikiTree that are connected rose from 88% to 88.8%.

The number of Crozier profiles which are connected to the main tree rose by 72 since January, while the number of profiles not connected to the main tree but linked to at least one other profile increased by 14 and the number of profiles not linked to any other profile decreased by seven.

The percentage of McNair profiles from ThePeerage.com that link back to that person's entry on ThePeerage.com remains at 100%. The percentage of McNair profiles from WikiTree that link back to that person's Wikipedia entry remains at 92.9%. So no chart, because straight lines are boring.

Currently, none of the McNair profiles from ThePeerage.com (0%) and seven of the profiles from Wikipedia (50%) have images on them.

Comments

Of the 1,768 McNair profiles on WikiTree, five are currently marked as unsourced, leaving an improbably high 1,763 profiles (99.7%) at least supposedly sourced. The two MacNairs listed in ThePeerage both have at least one primary source (100%). Of the 14 McNairs listed in Wikipedia, 12 of them (85.7%) have at least one primary source.

The sourcing level for Croziers from ThePeerage.com, Wikipedia, and our watchlists remained steady at 3.0, 1.6, and 1.5, respectively, so again, no chart.

The number of "tallied" profiles (profiles from Wikipedia and our watchlists) at each sourcing level is unchanged from last June.

The percentage of "tallied" profiles and WikiTree as a whole which are partially sourced barely shows as a thin light orange line. (As the appropriate "Needs More Records" category gets applied to more McNair profiles, this line should get more visible, and as the {{Unsourced}} template gets applies to more McNair profiles where it's needed, the darker orange line should get thicker as well.)

Answer 6

As of yesterday, there were 1,805 WikiTree profiles for people with McNair as their Last Name At Birth. That's an increase of 37 profiles since the beginning of May.

ThePeerage.com lists 66 McNairs. Of those, 14 have a different Last Name At Birth, 21 are living, and there are eight duplicate entries, leaving a net of 23 deceased McNairs. Of those, four (17.4%) have WikiTree profiles. Wikipedia has entries for 44 McNairs. Of those, 15 are living, one has a different Last Name At Birth, and one is a fictional character, leaving 27 deceased notable McNairs. Of those, 14 (51.9%) have WikiTree profiles.

The percentage of McNair profiles from ThePeerage.com and from our family that are connected to the main tree has remained at 100% since last June. The percentage of connected McNair profiles from Wikipedia remained at 50%. The percent of all McNair profiles on WikiTree that are connected rose slightly from 88.8% to 89%.

The number of McNair profiles which are connected to the main tree rose by 37 during May, while the number of profiles not connected to the main tree but linked to at least one other profile and the number of profiles not linked to any other profile remained the same.

The percentage of McNair profiles from ThePeerage.com that link back to that person's entry on ThePeerage.com remains at 100%. The percentage of McNair profiles from WikiTree that link back to that person's Wikipedia entry increased from 92.9% to 100%.

Currently, none of the McNair profiles from ThePeerage.com (0%) and seven of the profiles from Wikipedia (50%) have images on them.

Comments

Of the 1,805 McNair profiles on WikiTree, five are currently marked as unsourced, leaving an improbably high 1,800 profiles (99.7%) at least supposedly sourced. The four MacNairs listed in ThePeerage and the 14 McNairs listed in Wikipedia, all have at least one primary source (100%).

The sourcing level for McNairs from ThePeerage.com dropped from 3.0 to 2.5 during May due to the addition of an incompletely sourced profile. The sourcing level for McNairs from Wikipedia increased from 1.6 to 2.0. The sourcing level for McNairs from our watchlists dropped from 1.5 to 1.3, also due to the addition of an incompletely sourced profile.

The number of "tallied" profiles (profiles from Wikipedia and our watchlists) with three or more primary sources (level 3) increased from three to nine during May. The number of profiles with two primary sources dropped from seven to three. The number of profiles with one primary source increased from two to nine.

The percentage of "tallied" profiles and WikiTree as a whole which are partially sourced barely shows as a thin light orange line. (As the appropriate "Needs More Records" category gets applied to more McNair profiles, this line should get more visible, and as the {{Unsourced}} template gets applies to more McNair profiles where it's needed, the darker orange line should get thicker as well.)

Answer 7

Mayor William Woodbridge McNair has been created and connected, Still working on his family though.

Comments

Thank you, Brian!