2013-08-11 The Lnu Family Mystery
Mysterious census result
RootsWeb WorldConnect: Lnu
I just searched RootsWeb WorldConnect.
The WorldConnect search page told me that there
713.035.140 names and 5.976.924 surnames in 439.451 database.
I searched through all that for the surname Lnu
and WorldConnect reported that there are 101.873 matches.
When I repeated the search for Lnu on the RootsWeb home page,
RootsWeb not only reported 101.873 matches,
but also invited me to View additional 580,371 hits for LNU at Ancestry.com
.
From these bits of information, you might be tempted to conclude that the Lnu name is fairly common, and that Ancestry.com is a veritable gold mine of information on this family, but if you gave in to that temptation, you would be wrong on both counts.
A search for the Lnu surname on Ancestry.com seems to confirm how popular the name is.
The name apparently occurs thousands of times across all their categories,
yet despite that apparent abundance of data,
when you search for the origin of the name,
the map that should be showing the geographic distribution of the name
instead shows the text Sorry, we couldn't find geographic distribution information for the Lnu last name
.
That's odd, because that map is created from U.S.A. Census data, and near the top of the page it says
that the Lnu surname occurs in 65 Census and Voter Lists
.
Moreover, when you follow the View all Lnu census records
links next to the map,
you're not taken to an empty page, but to a page listing those 65 records,
and those records do list locations;
Wise in Virginia, Lucas in Ohio, Hampden in Massachusetts, etcetera.
census
There are three tabs, for three maps; United States of America, England & Wales, and Scotland.
The name distribution maps are based on census data for those countries.
All three maps shows Sorry, we couldn't find geographic distribution information for the Lnu last name
.
Notice the slider above the U.S.A. map that lets you choose between the 1840, 1880 and 1920 census data.
It does not matter which one you pick, it will not show a distribution.
USA 1940 census
The USA 1920 Census isn't the latest available census.
Last year, the U.S.A. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released the USA 1940 Census,
and several indexing projects indexed all the records within months.
When I searched the USA 1940 Census on Archives.com for the surname Lnu,
it came back with Sorry, no results found for Lnu
.
more USA 1940 census results
I followed the links provided in the USA 1940 Census article to search the USA 1940 Census with other providers.
FindMyPast told me that Your search returned 0 results
.
Ancestry.com told me that Your Search for Lnu returned zero good matches
.
FamilySearch told me We are unable to display search results due to technical difficulties. Please try searching again in a few minutes.
,
and when I tried again, claimed to show 1-20 of 5,207 results for Name: Lnu
,
but was actually showing other surnames, such as Llons
, Lanius
and Laino
.
When I retried the search after checking the Match all terms exactly
box first, FamilySearch told me No records found for Name: Lnu
.
MyHeritage claimed to show 1 - 20 of 44 results
but it actually showed names such as ???Lna
, L???ne
, Lne
and Lnay
.
There is no Exact search
checkbox on their USA 1940 home page, but you are presented with one if you choose to Edit Search
,
and once you've checked that Exact search
box, MyHeritage reports No results
.
Some of these providers use the same index, others created their own index, but they all agree: there are no Lnu in the USA 1940 Census.
The Lnu Family Mystery
So, there you have it, the Lnu Family Mystery.
There are about hundred thousand Lnu in RootsWeb WorldConnect family trees.
Ancestry.com claims to have about half a million records for Lnu, including USA 1920 census records,
but when you get to the USA 1940 Census, there isn't a single Lnu in there anymore.
Apparently, somewhere between 1920 and 1940, all Lnu disappeared.
How is this possible? What happened to them?
made-up name
The solution to the Lnu family mystery is simple.
That there are no Lnu in the USA 1940 Census isn't an error in the census or its index.
The Lnu did not disappear.
There are no Lnu in the USA 1940 Census because they never were there to begin with.
As far as I know, there never were any Lnu at all.
Lnu is in fact a made-up name.
The real mystery is not why the Lnu seemingly disappeared,
but why there is so much to be found for a surname that doesn't exist.
The hundred thousand Lnu in RootsWeb WorldConnect are fairly easily explained;
most on-line family tree are either copied from other on-line family trees or based on records,
and Ancestry.com alone has more than half a million records for Lnu.
But why are there so many records that list a surname that doesn't exist at all.
Can't we trust the records?
links
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