Neat website

General Discussion
1

Add your surname after the / and see its distribution around the world. I was surprised to see mine in so many places. It’s highest in Ireland and England.

2

Very cool Lois. Thanks for sharing. My ancestors came from Spain but I was surprised to see there are tens times as many people with my surname in Guatamala than there are in Spain.

3
Very cool Lois. Thanks for sharing. My ancestors came from Spain but I was surprised to see there are tens times as many people with my surname in Guatamala than there are in Spain.
Yes, it's full of surprises. My mother's maiden name was Redline. It was derived from the German Ratlein and all of her ancestors were German. Yet the name turns out to be very common in the Ukraine and Russia. Very surprising. Redline is not an uncommon name in the German areas of Pennsylvania, where she came from, but I have seldom found it elsewhere in the US. Lois
4

The free information on that site is interesting, however I’m skeptical of its accuracy. It gives precise numbers for the occurrence of a surname in each country around the world. There is no global census. In the U.S, individually identifiable census info (such as people’s names) is kept secret for 72 years for privacy reasons (and other countries may have similar restrictions). Also, many third world countries (particularly with unstable governments) would be especially limited in compiling this data. This means the completeness and accuracy of this database is questionable at best.
Also, after entering a surname, the site includes a button to “Search for [surname] in Newspapers”. That page takes you to a page purporting to show numbers of results from each U.S state. When you click on a state, it goes to a page where you can sign up for a “7-day free trial” of Newspapers.com. According to provisions buried the lengthy legalese of the terms of use (http://www.ancestry.com/cs/legal/termsandconditions?hideHeader=1]), if you don’t cancel within that 7 days, your credit card gets billed for an automatically renewing subscription ($79.95 per year). This kind of “free trial” bait-and-switch is common on the Internet, and raises questions as to how much the rest of the site is to be trusted.

5

Nice catch.

6
The free information on that site is interesting, however I'm skeptical of its accuracy. It gives precise numbers for the occurrence of a surname in each country around the world. There is no global census. In the U.S, individually identifiable census info (such as people's names) is kept secret for 72 years for privacy reasons (and other countries may have similar restrictions). Also, many third world countries (particularly with unstable governments) would be especially limited in compiling this data. This means the completeness and accuracy of this database is questionable at best. Also, after entering a surname, the site includes a button to "Search for [surname] in Newspapers". That page takes you to a page purporting to show numbers of results from each U.S state. When you click on a state, it goes to a page where you can sign up for a "7-day free trial" of Newspapers.com. According to provisions buried the lengthy legalese of the terms of use (http://www.ancestry.com/cs/legal/termsandconditions?hideHeader=1]), if you don't cancel within that 7 days, your credit card gets billed for an automatically renewing subscription ($79.95 per year). This kind of "free trial" bait-and-switch is common on the Internet, and raises questions as to how much the rest of the site is to be trusted.
I know. i am aware of such things and never sign up for a "free trial" if I have to give my credit card number before getting the "free" trial. But the information offered about surnames seems valid. It is supposed to come from census reports. But, of course, we should all take such things with a grain of salt. Lois
7
Very cool Lois. Thanks for sharing. My ancestors came from Spain but I was surprised to see there are tens times as many people with my surname in Guatamala than there are in Spain.
Strangely, a friend had the same experience. Her husband was from Spain and his name was Sanz-Agero. It, too, shows up more in in Guatemala than in Spain. Lois
8

I found it too general in scope. The site is really just spitballing it. As to name origin, I have a fairly complete genealogy and it didn’t even mention England, where my Paternal ancestors migrated from. I actually found more info on the “House of Names” site. Try "Ancestors.com, my wife found her maternal Great-grandfather there.
Cap’t Jack