Jenny: I suspect that the use of all caps for surnames evolved like this. Some early capturers of genealogical data, maybe even before any genealogical programs existed, saw a need to identify the surname. They only "created" a single "field" for this name, and so capitalized the surname to visually highlight it.
Genealogists needed to know surnames (as opposed to the rest of the name) for searching and sorting purposes. Many people evidently kept this all-caps convention as they started using genealogy programs. As these programs matured, and reports became available, they probably received complaints from non-genealogists who read family narratives where everyone's surname was all caps. By this time, the genealogy programs were sophisticated enough to have several fields for the name (prefix, given, etc.). So some genealogists, especially those who printed and distributed narrative reports, started entering or changing surnames to match the correct spelling, spaces, and case. The programs also provided the capability to display the surname, at least on screens and maybe some reports, in all caps or bracketed by slashes. Like Ron Ferguson said, it's really a matter of personal choice, rather than finding and following a standard. In fact, I'm finding that the format and structure of reports is starting to structure the way I enter data into Legacy, especially with regards to what I want in the body and what I want in the endnotes of reports. This thread reminded me of a military character in a 1960's anti-war satire by Joseph Heller, Catch-22. He was Major Major Major, as in rank, given, surname! As for identifying surnames, my family doesn't come from England, so I don't know what part of Andrew Lloyd Webber or Arthur Conan Doyle is the surname -- I'd need help entering them. Likewise for names from other cultures. Jennie --- Jenny M Benson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > deemails wrote > >Before I knew better, I capitalized all my > surnames. > > I have read all this thread so far and no one else > has queried this, so > I feel I must have got it wrong, but I thought it > was "Correct" to enter > Surnames always in capital letters. > > Is this not, then, standard genealogical practice? > -- > Jenny M Benson > > Enter the drawing for a FREE Legacy Cruise to Alaska > or a FREE research trip to Salt Lake's Family > History Library. Open to users of Legacy 6 Deluxe. > Enter online at > http://legacyfamilytree.com/FreeTrip.asp > > Legacy User Group guidelines can be found at: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > > To find past messages, please go to our searchable > archives at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ > > For online technical support, please visit > http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Help.asp > > To unsubscribe please visit: > http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Enter the drawing for a FREE Legacy Cruise to Alaska or a FREE research trip to Salt Lake's Family History Library. Open to users of Legacy 6 Deluxe. Enter online at http://legacyfamilytree.com/FreeTrip.asp Legacy User Group guidelines can be found at: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp To find past messages, please go to our searchable archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup%40mail.millenniacorp.com/ For online technical support, please visit http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe please visit: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyLists.asp
