Unknowns_Team_Process.jpg

The Unknowns Team Process

Privacy Level: Public (Green)
Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Planet Earthmap
Surnames/tags: unknowns profiles
This page has been accessed 2,820 times.

Profile Improvement Project
Unknowns Team

Click to download the WikiTree Day 2022 Slideshow

Contents

Mission

To improve the integrity of WikiTree by identifying and updating profiles with either a sourced Last Name at Birth (LNAB) or Unknown as per the Name Field Guidelines for Last Name at Birth.

Task List

A. Select a profile to work on. Please work in the time period and/or location where you have the most research experience.

The Unknown Last Name at Birth (LNAB) count may never go down but it should contain only profiles that have been researched and proper names could not be found. A large drop in unknowns in July 2024 is unexplained; it is possible than many profiles are possibly living. Here is a summary of the count:
Date Total
LNAB
Unknown
Difference Unknown LNAB
without
African-American
Sticker
Difference Unknown LNAB
with
African-American
Sticker
Difference
19 Nov 2023 326495
27 Mar 2024 332682 9187
15 May 2024 336330 3122
17 May 2024 336330 3122 327245 not calculated 9805 not calculated
18 Jul 2024 338660 2330 318133 -9112 10527 1442
20 Nov 2024 342875 4215 328604 10471 14271 3744
Select a profile via any of the methods below.

Unknown Profiles with no location

Right-click on a column heading to get a list of Unknown profiles. Profiles with public privacy are listed separately; the remaining profiles are open privacy. The Orphan and Managed profiles have no dates. Starting on 17 May 2024, profiles that have the {{African-American Sticker}} are excluded from the counts; the difference may be misleading.
Date Public Undated
Orphan
Undated
Managed
16Cen 17Cen 18Cen 19Cen 20Cen 21Cen Total Diff
19 Nov 20231173417826110312907111272966144863136518142808
27 Mar 2024 10867 17810 10192 2922 11239 29773 44757 13800 7 141367 -1441
15 May 2024 10682 17783 9848 2925 11264 29831 44841 13825 7 141006 -348
17 May 2024 10680 17783 9848 2925 12263 29807 44737 13774 7 141824 818
18 Jul 2024 10464 17511 9600 2940 11294 29806 44622 13704 7 139948 -1876
20 Nov 2024 9324 17080 9025 2958 11364 29803 44543 13757 7 137861 -2087


Unknown Profiles by country

Right-click on a column heading to get a list of Unknown profiles. These are open profiles that may have a birth, marriage or death location in the country. They may or may not be orphaned. Starting on 17 May 2024, profiles that have the {{African-American Sticker}} are excluded from the counts; the difference may be misleading.
Date Australia Canada England France Germany Ireland New
Zealand
United
States
USA Total Diff
19 Nov 2023 3238 5717 32853 1042 9284 11417 1865 51217 11493 128126
27 Mar 2024 3369 5913 33434 1068 9471 11909 1924 56349 11387 134825 6699
15 May 2024 3411 6004 33690 1075 9524 12111 1946 59030 11358 138149 2867
17 May 2024 3411 5925 33686 1068 9522 12107 1945 51122 10815 129601 -8548
18 Jul 2024 3465 5980 33962 1074 9567 12322 1980 52254 10623 131227 1626
20 Nov 2024 3564 6118 34029 1085 9611 12732 2066 55256 9748 134209 2982


United States Unknown profiles by State

To find a profile that may have a birth, marriage, or death location for a specific state in the United States, navigate to the United States Project and click on the desired state. Then navigate to the individual state's Ongoing List of Things to Do and click on the name of the state for the Unknowns item.

Historic numbers

The following are historic Unknown numbers from earlier reports. These are open or public profiles that are unsourced and have the Last Name At Birth (LNAB) as Unknown.
Unknowns Unsourced Open or Public17 Mar 20225 Oct 2022Jul 2023
16th Century 1500-15991,3251,4621594
17th Century 1600-16993,1133,2623465
18th Century 1700-17996,7737,0477294
19th Century 1800-18997,6447,7137594
20th Century 1900-19991,6282,2231791
21st Century 2000-2999222
Total 20,48321,70921,720
Earlier numbers include profiles with privacy levels more restrictive than open and public:
Alias 28 Sep 2016 3 Feb 2018 25 Nov 2019 10 Oct 2020 8 Jun 2021 7 Jan 2022 5 Oct 2022 Jul 2023
Unknown 246,758 276,976 308,578 315,805 323,599 334,095 351,030 358,805
Growth % 12.25% 11.41% 2.34% 2.47% 3.24% 4.9% 2.21%|


B. Search for possible duplicates. Only merge if the two profiles were intended to represent the same person. If the profile is linked to another profile, such as a spouse or child, it can sometimes be helpful to look for duplicates for the other profile in order to identify a duplicate for the Unknown.

C. If an alias, e. g., Unknown/UNKNOWN, is used for the Last Name at Birth (LNAB):

  1. Is the profile from a time, place or culture where Last Names at Birth (LNAB) are not used?
    1. If Yes, skip the following steps. Unknown as a Last Name at Birth (LNAB) in this case is a valid usage; no further action is required.
    2. If No, go to the next step.
  2. On the surnames list is a profile marked Active?
    1. If Yes, skip the following steps. An alias in this case is being used by an active member of WikiTree and is a valid usage; no further action is required.
    2. If No, go to the next step.
  3. Does the profile have a privacy status other than Open (white), that is, Public (green) or Private (yellow or red)?
    1. If Yes, you may need to contact the Profile Manager. Only Open privacy level profiles can be edited by any WikiTree Genealogist.
    2. If No (profile is Open and can be edited), go to the next step.
  4. Does the profile have a Profile Manager? Or someone on the Trusted List who is not Profile Manager? Always be sure to check the Privacy tab for Trusted List.
    1. If Yes, contact the Profile Manager or Trusted List member to see if a corrected LNAB is known or can be discovered.
    2. If No, go to the next step.
  5. Is the profile a married woman with an alias as her LNAB in a time/culture where a wife normally takes her husband's name at marriage?
    1. If Yes, and research has been done and it is unlikely that future research will find her LNAB, no further action is required. This is a valid usage. If you have exhausted all possible means of determining her LNAB, consider adding a Research Notes section to the biography outlining your results. This will notify other researchers of what work has been done so it will not be duplicated. You might verify that her husband's surname is listed in the Current or Other Last Name fields.
    2. If No, go to the next step.
  6. Does the profile have identifiable data? Are there birth/death dates? Is there information in the biography such as a narrative bio, sources, etc.?
    1. If Yes, skip the following steps. No further action is required.
    2. If No, go to the next step.
  7. Is the profile connected to one or more other profiles? For example: spouse, child(ren), parents.
    1. If Yes, no further action is required.
    2. If No, add a comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion with a link to the profile, include an explanation of what you have looked for and/or discovered

Best Practices

No. Profile Type How to Manage
1 Completely blank, orphaned, no information except an alias in both the first and last name fields. Add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion
2 Completely blank, no information except an alias in both the first and last name, has a profile manager. Add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion
3 Limited with no connections – Orphaned, not connected to any other profile, has either first or last name with an alias. Has no dates/locations which would enable researcher to identify profile. Add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion
4 Unknown with connections – a valid use of an alias, example: maiden name unknown, family members connected. Research to find a correct name or connected duplicate with the correct name for merging. If nothing is found, no further action is required.
5 Unknown that will not be known - example, the unknown father of a child born out of wedlock. Be aware that, at one time, creating profiles for siblings with no parent would create an Unknown father profile automatically. Such profiles are to be left intact and attached to the siblings in order for them to be linked as a family. If only one child, add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion
6 Unnamed Infant– This is the recommended Proper First Name/Preferred First Name convention in English language profiles for an infant who died before she/he could be named or was stillborn. Other countries/languages may use an appropriate term that expresses the same meaning. No action required.
7 None– This naming practice is being used for individuals born in a time/culture/place where Last Names at Birth (LNAB) are not used. As of now, it is a valid usage for some Projects. No action required.
8 Other Ask in Discord or the GoogleGroup on unusual profiles that do not fall into the above profile types


Notes on research and Redirects

By Steve Harris, posted on G2G March 2023

Corrections are always good for the tree. We just need to be cognizant of the history of the profile, the current state of the profile, and what the future changes to the profile might look like. We have to remember that every change made on a wiki has a "cost".

In the case of this specific profile, Unkown-1098, I would say the change to LNAB is fine to make, since "Unknown" may unfortunately be her legacy here on WikiTree.

History: No merges and/or LNAB changes to date (meaning no existing redirects).

Current State: Correct (sourced) LNAB will be difficult to find, and many people have apparently already tried.

Future: LNAB may never be found.

Based on the above, we only talking about one redirect now, and if we are lucky, a second redirect in the distant future to a correct (sourced) LNAB. This small number of redirects poses no issues.

Resources





Images: 1
Unknown 3D Man
Unknown 3D Man

Collaboration
  • Login to request to the join the Trusted List so that you can edit and add images.
  • Private Messages: Contact the Profile Managers privately: Kay Knight, Debi Hoag, and Robin Shaules. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
  • Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)
  • Public Q&A: These will appear above and in the Genealogist-to-Genealogist (G2G) Forum. (Best for anything directed to the wider genealogy community.)


Comments: 202

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
Hi Debi - just curious- do you know when this tech practice started and stopped?

5….Be aware that, at one time, creating profiles for siblings are created with no parent would create an Unknown father profile automatically.

posted by Elaine (Weatherall) Martzen
edited by Elaine (Weatherall) Martzen
Hi Elaine,

It was stopped sometime in 2021, probably at the same time that the change logs were revised to include all transactions. If you try to create a sibling with no common parent these days, a message pops up telling you to create a parent first. I don't know when it started; it worked that way when I joined WT in 2016.

Debi

posted by Debi (McGee) Hoag
Another code for unknown is FNU - I checked it because UK military use it for unknown in intelligence situations - FNU, forename Not Known, SNU for surname (there is one which might be that) and, not relevant here - ANK - Address Not Known. There are 240 FNUs!
posted on Unknowns (merged) by Madelaine (Bates) Kirke MA
Hello,

Was not sure who to let know about this, this looked like the place to do it.

I was able to clear up most of the LNAB Unknowns by recycling them into some new profiles. All that's left are a small handful of 6 I can not do anything with as they either still have a profile manager listed (cant adopt them) or are locked for editing due to a 1500 date or both. If someone can free them up I will be happy to recycle them.

Diane (UNKNOWN) Unknown abt 1280 - Locked 1500

Ivanez (UNKNOWN) Unknown abt 1200 - Locked 1500

Unknown (UNKNOWN) Unknown - before 2000 - Still has a profile manager

Unknown Unknown aft 0010 - Locked 1500 and Still has a profile manager

Unknown Unknown 0815 - Locked 1500 and Still has a profile manager

Unknown Unknown 1870 - Still has a profile manager

- Mike G.

posted on Unknowns (merged) by Mike Guzzetta
edited by Mike Guzzetta
CAn't you request that the profile be opened using the "Open Profile " request?? not for the very recent one, but certainly for the old ones....
posted on Unknowns (merged) by Pam (Anderson) Smith