Required Information
What Searches Are Invalid?
Tips for Searching the International Genealogical Index
Search for Children of the Same Parents
Narrow Your Search
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Required Information

You must enter at least:

• An individual’s last name and region.

  OR

• An individual's first name and region.

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What Searches Are Invalid?

FamilySearch will not search for:

• Middle names. FamilySearch will ignore middle names unless you check the Use exact spelling box. When you check Use exact spelling, the search will look for the individual's first, middle, and last name exactly as you listed it. If you check Use exact spelling, you may not list parents, spouse, event, or year.

You may not get the results you want if you list parents' names and a spouse's name in the same search. Most records from the International Genealogical Index contain either parents' names or a spouse's name but, not both.

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Tips for Searching the International Genealogical Index

• You may search for any combination of first and last names for the individual, parents, and spouse.
• You may search for an individual's first name, last name, or first and last name within a region, country, and state or province. Up to 200 results will be displayed on a page. Click Next to look at the other results.
• For common surnames, fill in additional fields to improve your search results. You will get better results if you enter an individual’s first name and last name.
• First and last names are standardized so that spelling variations are retrieved in the results.

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Search for Children of the Same Parents

To search for children of the same parents, enter:

• The region.
• The father’s first and last name.
• The mother’s first name (the mother’s last name is optional).

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Narrow Your Search

You may now use the following to make your search more specific:

• Event 
• Year range (If you select a year range, you must provide a year in the year box.)
• Year
• Country
• State or province
• Use exact spelling (If you check Use exact spelling, you may not list parents, spouse, event, or year.)
• Batch number
• Film number
• Batch and film number

If you choose birth or christening as the event, you must also enter one of the following options:

• Last name, region
• First name, last name, region
• First name, last name, father’s first name, region
• First name, last name, father’s last name, region
• First name, last name, father’s first and last name, region
• First name, last name, mother’s first name, region
• First name, last name, mother’s last name, region
• First name, last name, mother’s first and last name, region

If you choose marriage as the event, you must also enter one of the following options:

• Last name, region
• First name, last name, region
• First name, last name, spouse’s first name, region
• First name, last name, spouse’s last name, region
• First name, last name, spouse’s first and last name, region

If you choose death as the event, you must also enter one of the following options:

• Last name, region
• First name, last name, region

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The International Genealogical Index is a partial index to vital records from around the world. Some of the information may have come from microfilm copies of the original records. Because the original records may have been updated by the record custodians, you may find additional, more accurate information in the original records. You may also be able to obtain official copies of the original records by contacting the appropriate record custodian, some of whom are listed below.

Scotland: Scots Origins

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