Acronyms and Abbreviations

There are many acroymns and abbreviated words unique to genealogy and family history research that may not be easily found in any other industry's terminology. Here are some of the more commonly used acronyms and abbreviations:


 * Abt
 * About or Circa; an estimated date, e.g., "Abt. 1745"


 * ACPL
 * Allen County Public Library; library in Fort Wayne, Indiana with extensive genealogy collections. Librarians at the Allen County Public Library maintain PERSI, the Periodical Source Index, which indexes genealogical and local history sources from periodicals.


 * AF
 * Ancestral File; Ancestral File is a collection of over 35 million names linked into family groups and pedigrees. The records include information voluntarily contributed to familysearch.org by patrons from 1978-1991.


 * Aft.
 * After. The date is known to be later than another dated event, e.g., "Aft. 1900."


 * AGBI


 * American Genealogical Biographical Index; A large name index of genealogies published by the Godfrey Memorial Library. The data also include unindexed and partially indexed genealogies and several specialized vital record collections and census data from 1790.


 * bap
 * Baptized


 * BMD / BDM
 * Births, Marriages, and Deaths


 * CFI
 * Computer File Index, later known as the International Genealogical Index (IGI).


 * chr
 * Christened


 * c / ca. / circa
 * approximately (ex. "ca. 1535" means "in about 1535")


 * CNBL
 * Cannot Be Located


 * DAR
 * Daughters of the American Revolution; Lineage society for female descendants of soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War. The DAR Library in Washington, D.C. houses significant genealogical collections and is open to the public.


 * dob
 * Date of Birth


 * FGRA


 * Family Group Records Archive. This file was maintained by the Genealogical Society of Utah, a forerunner of the current Family History Library and FamilySearch. The archive consists of Family Group sheets in two parts: a MAIN section containing patron submissions from 1942-1969; and a PATRON section containing patron submissions from 1962-1979.


 * Submissions to the MAIN section were verified for accuracy and received additional processing when they were submitted. Both sections were microfilmed and made available to Family History Centers.


 * FHC
 * Family History Center (to find a Family History Center near you, click here)


 * FHL
 * Family History Library, largest genealogical library in the world. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah and sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


 * FHLC
 * Family History Library Catalog; searchable catalog of microfilm, fiche, books and periodicals available through FamilySearch.org.


 * GEDCOM
 * GEnealogical Data COMmunications (instustry standard file format used by genealogy software programs to transfer data)


 * ill.
 * Illegitimate (often recorded on birth certificates and other birth records)


 * IGI
 * Inernational Genealogical Index


 * LDS
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * LOC
 * Library of Congress; Research arm of the US Congress. Digital collections include historic newspapers, photographs, family genealogies, biographies and other items of interest to family history researchers.


 * NARA
 * National Archives Records Administration; repository of official US government records including census, military, immigration, and other documents of interest to family history researchers.


 * NEHGS
 * New England Historic Genealogical Society


 * NGS
 * National Genealogical Society; provides education and training in genealogical research methods and works to promote access to and preservation of genealogical records.


 * PERSI


 * The Periodical Source Index maintained by the Allen County Public Library of genealogical and local history periodicals, listed by source. PERSI's objective is to, over time, compile a complete subject index of all such periodicals--past and present.


 * PAF
 * Personal Ancestral File; freeware genealogy software available at FamilySearch.org.


 * PRF
 * Pedigree Resource File (a database within FamilySearch.org)


 * PRO
 * Public Records Office; National Archives repository for official public records (birth, marriage, death, census, etc.) for the United Kingdom.


 * SSDI
 * Social Security Death Index; master file of US death records reported to the Social Security Administartion available for free on-line through FamilySearch.org, ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com, genealogybank.com and other web sites.


 * TIB


 * Temple Records Index Bureau, a card-file index system maintained from 1927-1970 containing references to births, christenings and marriages for deceased (dating from 1500) and living persons (to 1970). The TIB was replaced by the CFI (later the IGI).

Family History Library Resources

 * There are also books which give the definitions of many abbreviated words. One such book is "Abbreviations &amp; Acronyms: a guide for family historians" compiled by Kip Sperry (FHL book US/Can 929.103Sp37a.)


 * Use a Title search for "abbreviations" in the Family History Library Catalog found on the www.familysearch.org website for other books which define abbreviations and acronyms such as: Acronyms, Initialisms, and Abbreviations Dictionary: a guide to acronyms, abbreviations, contractions, alphabetic symbols, and similar condensed appellations by Jennifer Mossman (FHL book US/Can 428.1 M855a v.1 pt.1 1995.)