Should we do something about Unknown LNAB's in different languages.

Question

I stumbled upon a man whos LNAB is Okänt wich means Unknown in Swedish. This led me to search for unknowns in different languages and I found quite a few:

Swedish: Okänt: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Ok%C3%A4nt

Swedish: Okänd: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/ok%C3%A4nd

Norwegian: Ukjent: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/ukjent

Danish: Ukendt: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Ukendt

Finnish: Tuntematon: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/tuntematon

German: Unbekannt: https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/unbekannt

I'm sure there are Unknowns in other languages as well. The question is if we find this ok, or should we change all of them into English? As most of them will (probably) have unresponsive PM's, should it be done by Editbot?

Answer 1

I strongly doubt it.  WikiTree is a WORLDWIDE tree, you know, and not everybody speaks English.

Comments

The problem is LNAB Unknown should be used for all Unknowns.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:Name_Fields#Special_rules_for_required_fields

Pay attention to the following sections:

If the first name or last name is unknown, use Unknown in the field. Do not use Not Sure, NN, Wife of X, Adopted, etc.

Using the same convention for unknown last names is important. In the long run, this clarifies things for everyone. It groups these profiles together in various alphabetical sorts. And we can program our systems to ignore profiles named Unknown in certain contexts.

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I think we are going to have to revise that section of the naming conventions to acknowledge that we are a worldwide, multi-lingual website. As Leader of the Unknowns Project, I would not recommend changing those names as you suggested.

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Regardless of what word we choose "Unknown" or some other, more universal word, there is an advantage to having a single term for the idea. Even if is a foreign word to some of us, learning that one word is less than being aware of all the possible translations.

Were I starting into a new section of my family and came across my Ukjent line, I would happily start trying to work them. Unless it were noted that it was our reserved word for Unknown. English would seem the most logical choice as it is already widely used, but a defined choice, any choice, seems important.

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It would be nice if everyone could be convinced to use a single term. Even English speakers do not use one term, there are at least 15 different commonly used substitutes for Unknown used on WikiTree. And that does not include the one of a kind terms and various misspellings of Unknown. When we can figure out how to accomplish this for English speakers, I'll turn my attention to other languages.

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It will never be perfect or consistent, but the question is what should be supported and encouraged with policy? It's not an easy question, and both sides have merit. What would you reword the style guide to to allow greater breadth?

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The subject has not been discussed among the "higher-ups" as yet. But if I were to make a recommendation I would say that we use Unknown for English-speaking countries, and a translation of Unknown in other languages. These could be noted in a glossary or something similar, as they arise on WikiTree.

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Shirley - Those commonly used substitutes, when there is no possibility they have another meaning, should be easy to eradicate with Editbot, and I bet they are mostly from older Gedcoms. New ones shouldn't appear. Both the create a new person and edit profile pages prompt the use of Unknown even automatically setting the current last name to Unknown if left empty. I don't know if it would do the same to LNAB when creating a profile or if it would just not allow the creation.

The fact that the WT interface is in English suggests everyone making contributions know at least rudimentary English. Unknown would be just like the "post comment" button on the profile pages, another part of the interface, used for clarity and consistency, making it harder to have the software find them all if necessary.

It is similar to the problem we have with Finnish profiles. Some genealogists insist on guessing what the people would have called themselves in Finnish instead of using the original Swedish names documented by the clergy in church books and such. Together with inconsistent use of farm names (or even hereditary last names), even when documented in birth records, makes it a nightmare to search for profiles and duplicates are bound to happen.