Many of these are very common in genealogy.
Events
- b · born
- d · died
- m · married
- bap, bp · baptized
- bur, bu · buried
Journals and Reference Works
- NEHGR · New England Historic Genealogical Register [publication of NEGHS]
- NEGHS · New England Historic Genealogical Society
- TAG · The American Genealogist
- MQ · Mayflower Quarterly
- NYGBR · New York Genealogical and Biographical Record
- NYGBS · New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
- GM · The Great Migration Study Project
- GMB · The Great Migration Begins
Repositories
- AJA · The American Jewish Archives
- AJHS · The American Jewish Hisotrical Society
- FHL · Family History Library
- NARA · National Archives and Records Administration
- NYPL · New York Public Library
- WTCPL · Warren-Trumbull County (Ohio) Public Library
- ACOM · Ancestry.com
- AGBI · American Genealogical Biographical Index
- IGI · International Genealogical Index
- LOC · Library of Congress
- SSDI · Social Security Death Index
- JGS · Jewish Genealogical Society
- AJGS · International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies
Dates
- abt · About
- aft · After
- bef · Before
- bet · Between
- say · Say
- est · Estimated. The date was estimated based upon family stories / traditions / standard genealogical estimations, e.g. "Est 1848". Standard genealogical standards include: man marrying at 25, woman marrying at 21, first child one year after marriage, and subsequent children every two years. For example, marriage in 1825, would give the husband's birth "Est 1800", wife's birth "Est 1804", first child's birth "Est 1826", second child's birth "Est 1828", etc.
- c. or ca · circa, "around", "about", "approximately
- OS · Old Style
Not used here, but in old newspapers clippings (particularly birth and death notices), may see:
- Inst or instant · (instante mense): "this month"
- ult. · (ultimo mense): "last month"
- prox. · (proximo mense): "next month"
Titles
- Capt. Captain
- Col. Colonel
- Lieut., Lt. Lieutenant
- Maj. Major
- Rev. Reverend (for ordained clergy)
- Hon. Honorable (for a judge)
- Esq. Esquire (for an attorney)
- Jr. Junior
- Sr. Senior
- a.k.a. · also known as; alias.
Societies
- APG · Association of Professional Genealogists
- DAR · Daughters of the American Revolution
- SAR Sons of the American Revolution
- FGS - Federation of Genealogical Societies
- NGS National Genealogical Society
- Rev. Reverend
- say Say
- OS Old Style
References
- BMD · Births, Marriages and Deaths
- ibid. · ibidem
- ie. · id est, "that is", "in other words".
- cont. · continued
- cf. · confer/Compare
- s.v. · sub verbo (plural: sub verbis) or sub voce (plural: sub vocibus), "under the word" (plural: "under the words") — look up under the given word or heading
- ibid. · ibidem "in the same place"
- d.s.p. · decessit sine prole, died without issue
- o.p. · out of print
- etc. · et cetera and so on... or and the others
- e.g. · exempli gratia "for example", "for instance"
- et al. · et alia, "and others",
- q.v. · quod vide Used after a term or phrase that should be looked up elsewhere in the current document or book. For more than one term or phrase, the plural is quae vide (qq.v.).
- c (for newspapers) · columns
- v, vol. · volume
- sic · not an abbreviation, but indicates a verbatim citation rather than a typo - "Thus it was written"
- iss · issue or volume issue abbreviated as volume:issue
- p. or pp. · page or pages
Standards
- GEDCOM · GEnealogical Data COMmunications (instustry standard file format used by genealogy software programs to transfer data)
- SOUNDEX · A method of translating a name to a one letter code followed by three numerical digits. The aim of the translation is to render all names which sound alike (or sufficiently similar) to the same code.