Census Whacking on April Fool's Day

 I can't resist the temptation to do this ... you all understand, right? You've even come to expect it, right? I'm a Geneaholic - I really can't help it. Let's get it over with --

There is no person named "April Fool" in any US Census - trust me, I looked.

However, there are some people named FOOL or synonyms for FOOL, to wit - in the 1920 census there are:

1) 45 people with the surname FOOL
2) 3,757 people with the surname JESTER
3) 1,651 people with the surname MESS
4) 252 with the surname BOOB
5) 33 with the surname CLOWN
6) 101 people with the surname DUPE
7) 13 people with the surname CHUMP
8) 8 people with the surname BUFFOON
9) 9 people with the surname COMIC
10) 22 people with the surname JOKER
11) 95 people with the surname SUCKER
12) 1,301 people with the surname TRICK
13) 162 people with the surname FUN
14) 203 people with the surname FUNNY
15) 502 people with the surname APRIL
16) 220 people with the given name APRIL

Now for combinations of given and surnames:

Claud and Grace FOOL resided in Pocahontas County IA
Mary APRIL resided in Fairfield County CT
Booth JESTER resided in Johnston County OK
Nanny BOOB resided in Climax GA
Randall BOOB resided in Union County PA
Frank STUPID resided in New York County NY
Mary COMIC resided in Crooks County OR
Ernest DUPE resided in St. Martin Parish LA
DUPE Clodfelter resided in Davidson County NC
CHUMP Dennis resided in Butts County GA
William and Violette CHUMP resided in Shelby County TN
James and Mary BUFFOON resided in Worcester County MA
Arthur and Ednamae JOKER resided in Allen County IN
Wolf and Lottie SUCKER resided in Philadelphia County PA

Of course, if Mary APRIL married Claud FOOL, she would be Mary April FOOL.

I always wonder why people with surnames like these don't change their names to something more "acceptable" - either legally or unofficially. Of course, some of these words did not have the connotation that they have today.  And perhaps the census takers had a sense of humor when they enumerated cantankerous individuals.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/04/census-whacking-on-april-fools-day.html

Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver

Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not be posted immediately.

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Genealogy Fools Day Is on Monday

 Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision. 

1)   April Fools Day is Monday.  When were you a Genealogy Fool?  What wrong, funny or silly genealogy effort did you make?

2) Tell us about them in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Here's mine:

*  WRONG!!!   I actually posted a list in 2007:  I Was a Fool - my Top 10

*  FUNNY:  I know that I made some stuff up for a Genealogy April Fools Day, but with over 17,000 posts they are hard to find.  Some of them are:

**  The Imminent Demise of Genea-Musings  

**  If Mary April married Claude Fool, she would be ... Mary April Fool!

**  The Genea-FOOL is gone

**  Got a gig!!!

**  Do We Need a Genealogy Tea Party?

*  SILLY:   Other genealogy folks are more creative than I am!

**  Genealogists Celebrate April Fools Day

**  1890 Census Recovered!

**  Astonishing New iPhone App: Lick It DNA

**  Scientists Discover Oldest Citation Ever

**  Breaking News: Release of 1940 Census Put on Hold

**  Scam Targets Genealogists

**  Ancestry.com announces Ancestry Séance

Unfortunately, Chris Dunham's The Genealogue is no longer available to read. The list above would be longer if it was available! 

What other genealogy April Fools Day posts have there been?  Tell me in comments and I'll and them to this list.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2024/03/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-genealogy.html

Copyright (c) 2024, Randall J. Seaver

Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not be posted immediately.

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Hallowe'en Name Whacking 2023

NOTE:  This is a repeat blog post from 31 October 2020.  It mentions the RootsWeb WorldConnect family tree database which was user-contributed over several decades and was scratched from the Internet by Ancestry.com in recent years.  Alas, many of the links from years past do not work any longer.

The Ancestry.com article about retirement of RootsWeb WorldConnect from April 2023 says:

"WorldConnect family trees (last updated on 9 August 2021) will be retired on 15 April 2023 and migrated to Ancestry as a new free-access collection later in the year. For help removing a tree or its content, contact us."

So there is "hope" that WorldConnect will return.  Unless it doesn't.  The year 2023 isn't over.    

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There are a number of families in the Rootsweb WorldConnect database at   https://wc.rootsweb.com/search  that have surnames connected to Hallowe'en. For instance:

1) The GHOST surname - there are many entries, including the descendants of Philip Ghost of Westmoreland County PA. It looks like at least one GHOST from this family is still living.

2) The GOBLIN surname - It looks like there are no real GOBLIN family trees - only isolated GOBLIN women who married men with other surnames.

3) The SKELETON surname - there are hundreds of entries but few trees with many generations. Methinks these are mostly misspelled SKELTON people.

4) The FRANKENSTEIN surname - There are many entries, and most of them are of German origin. One family that settled in Rochester NY is here. There is one Frank N. Stein here.

5) The WITCH surname - there are some entries, but no long family lines in the database. Some of those listed were accused of witchcraft.

6) The PUMPKIN surname - there are some entries, but no long family lines.  There are also hundreds of  entries for a given name of PUMPKIN.

7) The HAUNT surname - there are only a few entries, none with a family line.  There are a few persons with the first name of HAUNT.

8) The SPOOK surname - there are dozens entries, and only one with a three generation family. There are smoe entries for people with a given name of Spook and some for the first name of Spooky (at least one dog!)

9) The GHOUL surname - there are dozens of entries.

10) The JACKO surname has hundreds of entries, and there are dozens of entries with a given name of Jacko..

11) The LANTERN surname has hundreds entries. But there are no people named Jack O. Lantern, but 4a fewentries with Jack Lantern.

12) There are hundreds of CAT surname entries and thousands of  CATT entries. There is one Rin Black Cat name, which died in 2006 in Uncle Brick's barn.

13) There are some SCARY surname entries - many of them still living. There are dozens of entries for a given name of Scary.

14) There are dozens of  DRACULA surname entries, many of them are related to The Count. There are some entries for a given name of DRACULA.

15) There are hundreds of CEMETERY entries, some of them the name of actual cemetery databases.

16)  There are thousands of GRAVE surname entries, and tens of thousands of  GRAVES surname entries.  There are a few entries for the name Robin Graves.

17)  There are tens of thousands of entries for the surname COFFIN.

18) There are thousands of MONSTER entries. No Monster Mash, though (there are thousands of surname entries for MASH). There are no "Boris Pickett" persons, but there are some entries for BOBBY PICKETT.

19) There are hundreds of SKULL surname entries.

20) There are scores of SPIRIT entries. There are a few entries for a Holy Spirit with a spouse named Mary, with a child.

21) There are hundreds of thousands of surname entries for WEBB, but only a few entries for "Spider WEBB" (all nicknames)

22) There are hundreds of entries for SCREECH surname. And dozens of entries for a given name or nickname of Screech.

23) There are a few entries for HALLOWEEN surname - even a Mary Halloween.  There are dozens of given name entries for HALLOWEEN (including maiden names).

24) There are no VAMPIRE surname entries, and a few given name entries.

25) There are thousands of BROOM surname entries.

26) There are scores of  BAT surname entries, thousands of BATT surname entries and thousands of BATTY surname entries.  There are hundreds of entries for BATTY as a given name.

27) There are no ZOMBIE surname entries or given name entries. Whew!

28)  There are thousands of entries for the surname BLOOD.

29)  The surname DEATH has thousands of entries.

30)  The TRICK surname has thousands of surname entries and TREAT surname has tens of thousands of entries!  There are some given name entries for Tricky, but no Tricky Treat.

31)  The surname WARLOCK has some entries, but there are a few given name entries. 

32)  There are a few surname entries for WEREWOLF, both married to the same Lucky guy!

33)  There are hundreds of surname entries for BOO, and hundreds of  given name entries for BOO, and dozes of entries named Booboo.

34)  There are a few surname entries for GREMLIN.

Enough!! What other Hallowe'en oriented surnames can you think of? 

John D. Reid posted some Hallowe'en names and occupations  in Halloween fun from Ancestry.ca in 2009.

John Newmark had some Hallowe'en names in Friday Five in 2007.

Did I miss a post on Hallowe'en names?  If so, please tell me and I'll add it to my list.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/10/halloween-name-whacking-2023.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Hallowe'en Memories and Family History

 Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1)  What are your Hallowe'en memories from childhood or adulthood.  How did you celebrate the day?  Do you have any photographs?

2)  What about haunted houses?  Are there any in your family history?  Black cats?  Creepy neighbors?  Or witches - are there any in your family history? 

3)  If you were to make a genealogy-themed costume, what would it be?

4)  Tell us all about it in a blog post of your own, in comments on this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.  Be sure to link to them in a comment on this blog post.

Here's mine:

I'm too old (or too senile) to remember favorite Hallowe'en costumes, parties, carnivals or pranks from my childhood. I do have one Hallowe'en costume photo - but I'm not in costume (except as a teenager):

That's my brother Scott in the lion costume in about 1960.  Note my flattop haircut - that's me on the left. See - I had hair a long time ago.

I don't recall spooky places in my neighborhood, although the house that Austin and Della   Carringer built at 2115/2119 30th Street in about 1895 in San Diego, that I grew up in, might qualify.  There were little nooks and crannies, and a crawl space beneath the house that I never visited.  We always had cats, but they were usually gray, not black, and were often flattened on 30th or Fern Streets. No bats. No scarecrows in the city. My grandmother served Squirt! as a drink, not a magic potion.

I have hoped for a long time for visions or dream(s) with ghosts or messages (even obscure hints would be nice!) from my brick wall ancestors giving me leads to their parentage.  Hey there, Thomas J. Newton,  Hannah (Smith) Sawtell, John Richman, William Knapp, Mary Hoax, Corenlius Feather's wife, Devier Lamphier Smith's parents, etc., I'm talking to you!!  Alas, either my tweeter and snoozer aren't working or these elusive ancestors are happy staying hidden from me.

Ah, a witch! There is one person in my ancestry who was hanged as a convicted Salem witch -- my 9th great-grandmother Rebecca (Towne) Nurse was accused in 1692 and hanged after a trial in Salem. I visited the Francis and Rebecca Nurse house in Danvers MA back in 2004 and it was an interesting place to visit and see - especially the house itself with period furnishings and a docent who told stories about the house and the family.  But then, she wasn't really a witch - just accused of being one. She was found not guilty by the jury, but the magistrate sent them back to reconsider.

A costume?  Maybe a detective with a magnifying glass?  I know - Genea-Man!!  

Janice Brown of Cow Hampshire created this from a really old blog post of mine back in 2006:

I forgot all about this and it is no longer available on Janice's website.  BUT - I found it in one of my presentations from 2006!  It may be too much work to put together in the six hours I have left today before dusk.

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/10/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-halloween.html

Copyright (c) 2020, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Hallowe'en Name Whacking 2020 Style

 There are a number of families in the Rootsweb WorldConnect database at   https://wc.rootsweb.com/search  that have surnames connected to Hallowe'en. For instance:

1) The GHOST surname - there are many entries, including the descendants of Philip Ghost of Westmoreland County PA - see 6 generations here. It looks like at least one GHOST from this family is still living.

2) The GOBLIN surname - It looks like there are no real GOBLIN family trees - only isolated GOBLIN women who married men with other surnames.

3) The SKELETON surname - there are hundreds of entries but few trees with many generations. Methinks these are mostly misspelled SKELTON people.

4) The FRANKENSTEIN surname - There are many entries, and most of them are of German origin. One family that settled in Rochester NY is here. There is one Frank N. Stein here.

5) The WITCH surname - there are some entries, but no long family lines in the database. Some of those listed were accused of witchcraft.

6) The PUMPKIN surname - there are some entries, but no long family lines.  There are also hundreds of  entries for a given name of PUMPKIN.

7) The HAUNT surname - there are only a few entries, none with a family line.  There are a few persons with the first name of HAUNT.

8) The SPOOK surname - there are dozens entries, and only one with a three generation family. There are smoe entries for people with a given name of Spook and some for the first name of Spooky (at least one dog!)

9) The GHOUL surname - there are dozens of entries.

10) The JACKO surname has hundreds of entries, and there are dozens of entries with a given name of Jacko..

11) The LANTERN surname has hundreds entries. But there are no people named Jack O. Lantern, but 4a fewentries with Jack Lantern.

12) There are hundreds of CAT surname entries and thousands of  CATT entries. There is one Rin Black Cat name, which died in 2006 in Uncle Brick's barn.

13) There are some SCARY surname entries - many of them still living. There are dozens of entries for a given name of Scary.

14) There are dozens of  DRACULA surname entries, many of them are related to The Count. There are some entries for a given name of DRACULA.

15) There are hundreds of CEMETERY entries, some of them the name of actual cemetery databases.

16)  There are thousands of GRAVE surname entries, and tens of thousands of  GRAVES surname entries.  There are a few entries for the name Robin Graves.

17)  There are tens of thousands of entries for the surname COFFIN.

18) There are thousands of MONSTER entries. No Monster Mash, though (there are thousands of surname entries for MASH). There are no "Boris Pickett" persons, but there are some entries for BOBBY PICKETT.

19) There are hundreds of SKULL surname entries.

20) There are scores of SPIRIT entries. There are a few entries for a Holy Spirit with a spouse named Mary, with a child.

21) There are hundreds of thousands of surname entries for WEBB, but only a few entries for "Spider WEBB" (all nicknames)

22) There are hundreds of entries for SCREECH surname. And dozens of entries for a given name or nickname of Screech.

23) There are a few entries for HALLOWEEN surname - even a Mary Halloween.  There are dozens of given name entries for HALLOWEEN (including maiden names).

24) There are no VAMPIRE surname entries, and a few given name entries.

25) There are thousands of BROOM surname entries.

26) There are scores of  BAT surname entries, thousands of BATT surname entries and thousands of BATTY surname entries.  There are hundreds of entries for BATTY as a given name.

27) There are no ZOMBIE surname entries or given name entries. Whew!

28)  There are thousands of entries for the surname BLOOD.

29)  The surname DEATH has thousands of entries.

30)  The TRICK surname has thousands of surname entries and TREAT surname has tens of thousands of entries!  There are some given name entries for Tricky, but no Tricky Treat.

31)  The surname WARLOCK has some entries, but there are a few given name entries. 

32)  There are a few surname entries for WEREWOLF, both married to the same Lucky guy!

33)  There are hundreds of surname entries for BOO, and hundreds of  given name entries for BOO, and dozes of entries named Booboo.

34)  There area few1 surname entries for GREMLIN.

Enough!! What other Hallowe'en oriented surnames can you think of? Are they in WorldConnect?

The Ancestry.com blog published some entries from death records in Who would name their daughter Halloween? Just check the records.

John D. Reid posted some Hallowe'en names and occupations  in Halloween fun from Ancestry.ca in 2009.

Chris Dunham did some Census Whacking on Hallowe'en names in Censuswhacking for Halloween in 2005.

John Newmark had some Hallowe'en names in Friday Five in 2007.

Did I miss a post on Hallowe'en names?  If so, please tell me and I'll add it to my list.

NOTE:  Up until recently, WorldConnect provided a name count for a search.  Now they don't.  Too bad.  I refuse to count into the hundreds when a computer could do it easily.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2020/10/halloween-name-whacking-2020-style.html

Copyright (c) 2020, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Dear Randy: How Do You Explain This 1940 U.S. Census Entry?

Genea-Musings reader Jenny asked this question, noting:

"I ran across a scenario in a 1940 census record that I haven’t seen before and thought you might be able to explain the situation behind it.

"In trying to clean up profiles, I realized that I didn’t have the 1940 census record for a first cousin/once removed. What I found odd was that I did have the rest of her family listed in an entry for 1940. I found her several pages later listed with several other “miscellaneous” entries with referencing notation. You can see the notes on Marilyn Bossio tie back to the page with her parents, Peter and Mary Bossio and the rest of their children. I’ve attached the 2 records so you can see what I’m referencing. Do you know why several folks were listed along with Marilyn like this? I didn’t think the census taker came back to an area."

Here are the two 1940 U.S. census pages Jenny provided:

On the first image, the Peter Bossio family in Bonner County, Idaho is on Sheet 9A, in household #173, on lines 22 through 30 for the family members - Peter, wife Mary, and seven children.

On the second image, Marilyn Bossio (age 7) is on Sheet 61A on line 3.  Here is a magnified snip of the entry:

There is a notation in Column 3 that this is for household #173, and in the left margin is a note that the household is on page 9, line 22.  In Column 2, there is a note that the information was obtained on April 17th.

To Jenny's question - how did this happen?  

The answer is in the Instructions for Enumerators - Population and Agriculture - 1940 publication at https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1940instructions.pdf.

On page 26 and 27, Section 363 of the Instructions say:

So this section and other sections explains it - little Marilyn was not enumerated on the first visit on April 16, and the enumerator may have been notified about it, or left a form to fill out, and made a second visit on April 17 and added her to Sheet 61A, per the instructions.  Perhaps the father, who was the informant according to the first image, forgot about little 7 year old Marilyn on the first visit, or the enumerator didn't write it down.

Note that on Sheet 9A, there is a notation in the left margin for Peter Bossio to see page 61, line 3.  The key is to always note the notation in the left margin of the page, and then check Sheet 61A and following sheets to find persons missing from the enumeration the first time around.

The entire set of Instructions for the enumerators is interesting - how they tried to cover every potential problem that the enumerator might encounter.

Thank you to Jenny for asking the question, and I imagine this will be new information for some of the Genea-Musings readers.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2019/05/dear-randy-how-do-you-explain-this-1940.html

Copyright (c) 2019, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Ancestry.com Quirk: The Vanishing Search Result

This Ancestry.com quirk happens fairly often for me when I am searching for a person:

1)  I found a record for a Vivian Seaver, born 1932, in a record.  So I did a search on Ancestry.com with the given and last names as exact information.  I received this result, using the "Categories" list of matches in specific databases:

Aha, maybe there is a Social Security Applications and Claims Index entry that will provide a birth name, birth place, and parents names, not to mention marital history.

2)  Here is the list of matches on the Social Security Applications and Claims Index match list:

Huh?  No matches?  But the search engine said there were three matches.  What's up with that?

If I add a birth year, 1932 (broad), I get the same result - 3 matches in the Social Security database.  If I make the birth year plus or minus 10, or 5, or 2, or 1 year, or exact, I get no results.

It even happens when I move the slider to include initials for the given name - then there are 15 matches in the SSACI database, but I get a list of zero in the SSACI list.

3)  When I used the "Records" list of search matches, the three matches are there - for a Vivian M. Seaver who was the mother of three different children in the Social Security database, viz.:

4)  Why doesn't this record show up in the "Categories" result on the search result page?  

This frequently happens to me when I search on Ancestry.com.  I wish the search results would reflect what is in the indexed entries.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/07/ancestrycom-quirk-vanishing-search.html

Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

Hubert B. Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff is the Short Version of His Name

The mental_floss website has a fascinating article about the man with, ostensibly, the longest name - see Meet the Man Who Claimed to Have the World's Longest Last Name by Stacy Conradt.

The full name is, apparently:

Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfe­schlegel­stein­hausen­berger­dorff­welche­vor­altern­waren­gewissen­haft­schafers­wessen­schafe­waren­wohl­gepflege­und­sorg­faltig­keit­be­schutzen­vor­an­greifen­durch­ihr­raub­gierig­feinde­welche­vor­altern­zwolf­hundert­tausend­jah­res­voran­die­er­scheinen­von­der­erste­erde­mensch­der­raum­schiff­genacht­mit­tung­stein­und­sieben­iridium­elek­trisch­motors­ge­brauch­licht­als­sein­ur­sprung­von­kraft­ge­start­sein­lange­fahrt­hin­zwischen­stern­artig­raum­auf­der­suchen­nach­bar­schaft­der­stern­welche­ge­habt­be­wohn­bar­planeten­kreise­drehen­sich­und­wo­hin­der­neue­rasse­von­ver­stand­ig­mensch­lich­keit­konnte­fort­pflanzen­und­sicher­freuen­an­lebens­lang­lich­freude­und­ru­he­mit­nicht­ein­furcht­vor­an­greifen­vor­anderer­intelligent­ge­schopfs­von­hin­zwischen­stern­art­ig­raum, Senior. 

The article has several other long names for persons craving attention - read the entire article.

My first thought was "how in the world could he remember that?"  My second thought was "He wouldn't dare name his child that, would he?"  Apparently, I was wrong about that.  I like the abbreviation used in the article - his surname is Wolfe+585 (characters).

I looked for him on Ancestry.com using the Wolfeschl* surname and didn't find him.  Maybe he used only Wolfe.

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The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2017/03/hubert-b-wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberger.html

Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

More Hallowe'en Name-Whacking

There are a number of families in the Rootsweb WorldConnect database at  http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/  that have surnames connected to Hallowe'en. For instance:

1) The GHOST surname - there are 607 entries, including the descendants of Philip Ghost of Westmoreland County PA - see 6 generations here. It looks like at least one GHOST from this family is still living.

2) The GOBLIN surname - there are 65 entries. It looks like there are no real GOBLIN family trees - only isolated GOBLIN women who married men with other surnames.

3) The SKELETON surname - there are 507 entries but few trees with many generations. Methinks these are mostly misspelled SKELTON people (77,203).

4) The FRANKENSTEIN surname - There are 1,545 entries, and most of them are of German origin. One family that settled in Rochester NY is here. There is one Frank N. Stein here.

5) The WITCH surname - there are 232 entries, but no long family lines in the database. Some of those listed were accused of witchcraft.

6) The PUMPKIN surname - there are 83 entries, but no long family lines.  There are 448 entries for a given name of PUMPKIN.

7) The HAUNT surname - there are only 6 entries, none with a family line.  There are 4 persons with the first name of HAUNT.

8) The SPOOK surname - there are 36 entries, and only one with a three generation family. There are 50 entries for people with a given name of Spook and 32 for the first name of Spooky (at least one dog!)

9) The GHOUL surname - there are 47 entries.

10) The JACKO surname has 389 entries, and there are 112 entries with a given name of Jacko..

11) The LANTERN surname has 343 entries. But there are no people named Jack O. Lantern, but 3 entries with Jack Lantern.

12) There are 284 CAT surname entries and 13,696 CATT entries. There is one Rin Black Cat name, which died in 2006 in Uncle Brick's barn.

13) There are 25 SCARY surname entries - many of them still living. There are 88 entries for a given name of Scary.

14) There are 94 DRACULA surname entries, many of them are related to The Count. There are 57 entries for a given name of DRACULA.

15) There are 763 CEMETERY entries, some of them the name of actual cemetery databases.

16)  There are 5,160 GRAVE surname entries, and 358,827 GRAVES surname entries.  There are 6 entries for the name robin Graves.

17)  There are 163,499 entries for the surname COFFIN.

18) There are 2,448 MONSTER entries. No Monster Mash, though (there are 3,225 surname entries for MASH). There are no "Boris Pickett" persons, but there are 15 entries for BOBBY PICKETT.

19) There are 1,112 SKULL surname entries.

20) There are 173 SPIRIT entries. There are 6 entries for a Holy Spirit with a spouse named Mary, with a child.

21) There are 623,594 surname entries for WEBB, but only 7 entries for "Spider WEBB" (all nicknames)

22) There are 251 entries for SCREECH surname. And 55 entries for a given name or nickname of Screech.

23) There are 8 entries for HALLOWEEN surname - even a Mary Halloween.  There are 135 given name entries for HALLOWEEN (including maiden names).

24) There are no VAMPIRE surname entries, and 3 given name entries.

25) There are 22,524 BROOM surname entries.

26) There are 141 BAT surname entries, 19,326 BATT surname entries and 12,154 BATTY surname entries.  There are 862 entries for BATTY as a given name.

27) There are no ZOMBIE surname entries or given name entries. Whew!

28)  There are 60,616 entries for the surname BLOOD.

29)  The surname DEATH has 12,253 entries.

30)  The TRICK surname has 4,125 surname entries and TREAT surname has 68,327 entries!  There are 51 given name entries for Tricky, but no Tricky Treat.

31)  The surname WARLOCK has 78 entries, but there are 4 given name entries 

32)  There are 3 surname entries for WEREWOLF, both married to the same Lucky guy!

33)  There are 402 surname entries for BOO, and 821 given name entries for BOO, and six entries named Boo Boo.

Enough!! What other Hallowe'en oriented surnames can you think of? Are they in WorldConnect?

The Ancestry.com blog published some entries from death records in Who would name their daughter Halloween? Just check the records.

John D. Reid posted some Hallowe'en names and occupations  in Halloween fun from Ancestry.ca in 2009.

Chris Dunham did some Census Whacking on Hallowe'en names in Censuswhacking for Halloween in 2005.

John Newmark had some Hallowe'en names in Friday Five in 2007.

Did I miss a post on Hallowe'en names?  If so, please tell me and I'll add it to my list.

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