The origin of surnames can be something interesting and curious to search for and there are many websites that host information on the subject. What we are going to talk about today is Geneanet, a page very similar to Google Maps that tells the history of family names from different countries and shows their origin on the map.
The developers of Ganeanet use geolocation in a very different way to map apps like Google Maps, Waze or Apple Maps. In their case, they don’t use it to help us locate ourselves or find the best route to get to our destination, but rather they use it to indicate where people with our surname live. According to them, their database contains 820,396 referenced surnames, so it is more likely that you can find yours.
By searching for your surname, you will not only be able to find out how many people have the same surname as you and in which areas of the world they live. You will also be able to find out its origin and its evolution over time. We show you how to find each piece of information about a surname in Ganeanet below.
How many people have your last name?
Let’s take the example of your surname GarcÃa, which is the most common surname in Spain. The first thing you’ll have to do is search for it in the search bar on the Geneanet website. A map with marked areas will immediately appear, as shown in the image below:
Above you will see the “Surname Frequency” where you will be shown how many individuals have the last name GarcÃa according to the Geneanet database. If you want to know more, you can go down a little and you will see information about the places where the surname GarcÃa is most present. Not only will you be able to find the location, but also the number of registered people. This does not give the information.
By default, the data that Ganeanet will give you corresponds to that of 2024. However, you can go to the year 2000, 1900, 1800, 1700, 1600, 1500 or 0 to see the information recorded in those periods.
The origin of a surname
In case you are interested in knowing the origin of your surname, Ganeanet will also have information for you. Most family names have a short description at the beginning of the search results.
For example, if we search for Cárdenas, Ganeanet states that it is a “residential surname of places in the provinces of AlmerÃa and Logroño called Cárdenas.” However, not all surnames have a known origin. In some of these cases, they still give us information about what is known about their origin, and in other cases, they don’t even give any more information.
If we continue with the example of the surname GarcÃa, Ganeanet says that it is of Spanish/Portuguese origin, that is, from the Iberian Peninsula. However, he does not know how to tell us anything concrete: «From a medieval proper name of uncertain origin. It is commonly found in medieval records in the Latin form Garsea and may well be of pre-Roman origin, perhaps similar to the Basque (h)artz ‘bear’.
The evolution of a surname
As we have already mentioned a few paragraphs above, the website allows you to search for a surname over time. In this way, we can learn how the surname has evolved and the movements of the individuals who had this surname. Furthermore, in some cases, it helps us better understand the origin of the family name even though Ganeanet does not tell you anything conclusive.
Although the website cannot calculate the number of people there were in other centuries, you can see the differences on the map. For example, before 1500 the surname GarcÃa was practically only seen in the Iberian Peninsula and, as you add years on the world map, you see that it covers more places.
Likewise, Ganeanet has some family trees shared by users. The Ganeanet database has 9 billion people throughout history. This way, you may find someone related to your family.
