Full Name Review: Help Others Find Their Ancestors

A mother and daughter looking at family history records on a laptop in their home.

Full Name Review is a volunteer activity on FamilySearch.org available to anyone wishing to share the joy of family history with others. Like Quick Name Review, an activity that many volunteers like doing, Full Name Review makes the names of deceased persons easier to find for people who want to discover their ancestors.

Here’s a closer look at how Full Name Review works and how it compares to Quick Name Review. As you read, consider which opportunity you want to do the next time you have a few minutes to volunteer. You can find both activities and more in the Opportunities section of Get Involved.

Full Name Review and Quick Name Review: What’s the Difference?

Full Name Review and Quick Name Review have the same purpose: to check the names on historical record indexes, making sure they’re accurate and searchable. Both compare a name that a computer has typed with the historical record image the name comes from. The primary difference is the amount of time and analysis that each activity requires. Both are easy to do! But one is a more thorough check of the indexed name.

A historical record of surnames and given names. The surname "Degner" and the given name "Rawe O." are highlighted in yellow.

Quick Name Review involves checking the accuracy of a single given name or surname. Once checked, most of these names will move on to Full Name Review to ensure the entire name is correct. If you only have a few minutes to spare or want to participate in something that doesn’t require a lot of detailed analysis, this is a great way to volunteer.

Full Name Review asks you to check the accuracy of an entire name—prefixes, given name, surname, and suffixes—all at the same time. It’s not as fast-paced as Quick Name Review, and certain cases may require some problem-solving. But it’s perfectly suited if you have more time and want to help complete the reviewing process so the names are finalized.

Getting Started with Full Name Review

The Full Name Review section of the Get Involved page. A red arrow is pointing to the purple button labeled "Get Started."

To participate in Full Name Review, sign in to FamilySearch.org, and click the Get Involved option at the top of the screen. Then select Opportunities from the drop-down menu. Full Name Review will show as one of the available opportunities to click on.

Select the country where you want the records you’ll review to come from. You can also add a last name and even a specific place within the country, such as a city, county, town, or village.

If you get a notice that FamilySearch.org currently doesn’t have records that fit your search criteria, you will be offered the opportunity to adjust your search, or review names from another location that has records available.

Tip: When using the specific place field, select one of the suggested place-names that appear as you type. These suggestions have been properly formatted and already exist in our database of places. If you enter the entire place-name yourself without selecting the correct standardized format, your search might not be successful.

The pop-up screen to search for records. There's an error message saying that no historical records could be found in the specific place selected, but an option underneath lets you review other names from a similar place.

The pop-up screen for Full Name Review. A half-written word is typed into the specific place field. There's a drop-down menu of places that match what's typed.

How to review a complete name in 4 simple steps

1. Check that the person’s full name is highlighted, including name prefixes, given names, surnames, and name suffixes.

The computer can sometimes miss part of a person’s full name if the person on the record has more than one given name or surname. In this example, the computer successfully identified the given name but failed to recognize another part of the person’s name.

A historical record with a given name "Rolla" highlighted in yellow by the computer and an unhighlighted surname "De Jarnett" circled in red.

2. Adjust name highlights if necessary.

If part of the name has been missed, click No in the right-hand review panel when asked if the full name is highlighted. Then add, remove, or adjust the highlights so the complete name in the record is highlighted. If necessary, you can also leave some fields blank.

A zoomed-in historical record. The given name "Rolla" is still highlighted in yellow. The surname "De Jarnett" is selected with a blue highlight with a clickable option to attach the "De Jarnett" writing to the full name.

3. Follow the instructions in the review panel, and confirm whether the computer has ordered and identified the parts of the name correctly or not.

In the example below, the computer incorrectly identified which is the given name and which is the surname. These mistakes can be corrected by editing the text within the boxes and clicking the blue tab on the right side of the names to drag and drop them into the correct order and category.

Visual guide for editing and rearranging the names the user has confirmed to be accurate in Full Name Review.

4. Ensure that the names are spelled the same as they are in the record.

Make any edits you need to, and then click Done.

Tips and tricks for reviewing a full name

It might take some practice before you feel completely confident reviewing full names. If you’re ever uncertain if you’re reading a record correctly, click the Unsure button. The system will pass this name to other volunteers until someone can review it with confidence.

Full Name Review's side panel where you click if the computer has properly highlighted a person's full name. The "Unsure" button has a red box around it.

If the computer highlights words that aren’t names at all, like in the example below, click Not a Person.

A historical record of names. The description of a person is highlighted in yellow by the computer. There's a red circle around it and a red arrow pointing to a button on the side panel labeled "Not a Person."

Reading cursive handwriting can be difficult. If you need help, click the handwriting icon in the top right corner above the record to see examples of how different letters might appear. When deciphering handwriting, it also helps to look around the document for words that you recognize to see how they are written.

The other 3 icons next to the handwriting icon are for viewing the record detail page for more information, attaching the record to a profile in Family Tree, and sharing the record on social media. (Since the activity allows you to search for specific surnames, you might find the names of your own ancestors as you are helping out!) You can also click the record detail page if you need to make more extensive edits to the record index.

The 4 icons in Full Name Review's top menu bar.

Don’t be afraid of making a mistake as you are volunteering. Any adjustments you make in either Quick Name Review or Full Name Review won’t permanently change that information. Instead, your indexed record and a previously computer-indexed entry will both be available for users to search.
For more step-by-step instructions, you can read this article found in FamilySearch's help center.

Your contribution can be a miraculous discovery for someone else

Reviewing names makes it possible for people around the world to discover and connect their families. By using Full Name Review, you can bring yourself and others one step closer to linking generations together.

Try Full Name Review

At FamilySearch, we care about connecting you with your family, and we provide fun discovery experiences and family history services for free. Why? Because we cherish families and believe that connecting generations can improve our lives now and forever. We are a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To learn more about our beliefs, click here.