Surname Unk vs. Unknown?

Question

There are about 1300 profiles with the surname Unk, including the mysterious Unk Unk b. 1479. I have a strong suspicion they are supposed to be Unknown to match the WT convention and they were imported from a different system that used Unk as an alternative. Also, there could be someone with that surname of course, but I haven't found a real profile yet.

My quick scan of a couple of these is they are so low quality I really wonder the utility of keeping them or even changing the surname to Unknown. It's a lot of work to find information on mysterious people, so I don't see a lot of utility notifying profile managers.

Is there anything specific we should do to tag these so they get fixed? It appears to be a mostly post-1500 problem so I wondered if the pre-1500 error projs. had figured this out. Thanks!

Answer 1

https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=unk

Surname found most frequently in Texas and Michigan. Also in OH, AZ and KS in the USA. In England most frequently found in Shropshire.

Answer 2

Elixabeth Unk
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
christening:
11 February 1738
Acton, Suffolk, England
residence:
England

Celia Elizabeth ...unk
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
christening:
12 January 1905
Christ Church, Greenwich, Kent, England
residence:
Greenwich, Kent, England

Unk
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
christening:
13 February 1807
Yarmouth, Norfolk, England
residence:
Yarmouth, Norfolk, England

Ann Unk
England and Wales Census, 1871
birth:
1799
Morpeth, Northumberland
residence:
1871
Westoe, Durham, England
other:
South Shields, Westoe

Elizabeth Unk
Mother
Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953
birth:
Emg

Elizabeth Unk
Mother
Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953
birth:
England

Unk
Mother
Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953
birth:
England

Sarah Ann Unk.
Mother
Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953
birth:
England

Martha Unk
Mother
Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953
birth:
England

Sophia Unk.
Mother
Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953
birth:
England

Ann Unk
Mother
Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947
birth:
England

Hanna Unk
Mother
Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947
birth:
England

Thomasina Unk
Mother
Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953
birth:
Wallsall, England

Mary Unk.
Mother
Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947
birth:
Unknown, Eng.

Emma Unk
Mother
New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949
birth:
England

Unk
Father
New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949
birth:
England

Unk
Mother
New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949
birth:
England

Mary Unk.
Mother
Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001
birth:
England

Elizabeth Unk.
Mother
Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001
birth:
England

Unk Unk
Mother
Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001
birth:
England

Answer 3

James Unk
Illinois, Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915
birth:
16 December 1882
Chicago, Cook, Illinois

Unk
Michigan Births, 1867-1902
birth:
14 September 1898
Deerfield, Lenawee, Michigan

Unk
Michigan Births, 1867-1902
birth:
17 November 1898
Deerfield, Lenawee, Michigan

Janos Agoston Unk
California Birth Index, 1905-1995
birth:
22 April 1986
San Francisco, California, United States

Emilia Ida Unk
California Birth Index, 1905-1995
birth:
20 June 1988
San Francisco, California, United States

James Unk
Illinois Births and Christenings, 1824-1940
birth:
16 December 1882
Chicago, Cook, Illinois

James R. Unk
Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914
birth:
1 February 1892
Providence, Rhode Island
residence:
1892
Rhode Island, United States

John M. Unk...
New Jersey, Births, 1670-1980
birth:
11 August 1869
West Hoboken, Hudson, New Jersey, United States

Unk
Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915
birth:
11 July 1871
State Alms House of Tewksbury, Massachusetts

Christine F Unk
Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999
birth:
1921
Scott, Kentucky, United States

Ethyl Unk
Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999
birth:
7 September 1912
Ohio, Kentucky, United States

Lonnie H Unk
Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999
birth:
28 February 1911
Butler, Kentucky, United States

Arthur Unk
Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926
birth:
16 October 1892
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
residence:
1892
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Emma Unk
Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926
birth:
11 November 1885
Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
residence:
1885
Wisconsin, United States

Stelle Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
28 January 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

Margaret Mary Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
22 March 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

Babe Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
22 March 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
death:
22 March 1887

Mary Cecelia Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
13 May 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Edith Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
28 May 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

Mary Gertrude Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
18 September 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

Comments

Mary Grace Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
9 February 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Francis Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
7 November 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Helena Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
14 December 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
James Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
28 April 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Joseph Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
27 May 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Abraham Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
30 May 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
James Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
2 June 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Frederick Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
2 June 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
William Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
29 June 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Vincent Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
19 July 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Lawrence Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
11 August 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Charles Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
23 September 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Gregory Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
30 October 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Hughbert Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
30 October 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Gertrude Grace Unk
Michigan Births and Christenings, 1775-1995
birth:
27 November 1887
Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Julia Unk.
West Virginia Births and Christenings, 1853-1928
birth:
27 August 1861
Harrison Co, W Va
... G...Unk
Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940
birth:
2 October 1894
Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
other:
, Cook, Illinois
James Unk
Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940
birth:
16 December 1882
Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States
other:
, Cook, Illinois
Mary Unk
Mother
New York, New York City Births, 1846-1909
birth:
U.S.
Elizabete Unk...Le Lezins
Mother
Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003
birth:
U.S

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Do those names appear in the actual records, or is this another of those erroneous constructs (like all those people born in Reusel-de-Mierden) that originated with genealogy software and/or the work of transcribers?

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They're from familysearch.org .

If unk is and abbreviation for unknown, it could have a period after the unk.

You could check with familysearch.org regarding whether they are actual records or constructs.