GeneaNet
Encyclopedia
Geneanet is an international genealogy
database
. The GeneaNet project was officially launched on December 2, 1996. Today the GeneaNet database holds over 135 million entries which is equivalent to over 400 million individuals.
GeneaNet began in 1996 when several people interested in genealogy
and computing, Jacques Le Marois, Jérome Abela et Julien Cassaigne, realized what a great instrument the Internet
could be for their genealogical research.
They then had the idea to share, in a single database, not the whole of their family trees but what French genealogists call a liste éclair. The French idiom does not translate directly into English, where such a list would be known by the more prosaic title of Surname Interests List. A liste éclair is a list of surname
s which a genealogist is interested in, due to them appearing in their ancestry, associated to the locations where one's ancestors have lived. That file is often enriched with the years of the beginning and the end of which one holds information about each name.
Thus, comparing two listes éclair, it is very easy to determine if they have surnames in common and, if so, to check if these surnames are located in the same place. If, when, comparing two files, the chances of finding data in common are low, when hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousand files are compared, the probability of a hit are multiplied. It is with this founding idea that GeneaNet was born, since the internet is a way to exchange and compare the listes éclair of genealogists worldwide.
Hence, a simple search in this "index of indices" is a way to know that a given surname, in a given location, between such and such year, is studied by a given genealogist (usually as a hobby).
One can also publish an online family tree, by sending a gedcom file to the site, or by managing the family tree directly on the Geneanet site. Geneanet is based on GeneWeb software.
The ancestor of GeneaNet was called LPF, Liste des patronymes de France, which was launched in June 1996.
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
. The GeneaNet project was officially launched on December 2, 1996. Today the GeneaNet database holds over 135 million entries which is equivalent to over 400 million individuals.
GeneaNet began in 1996 when several people interested in genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
and computing, Jacques Le Marois, Jérome Abela et Julien Cassaigne, realized what a great instrument the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
could be for their genealogical research.
They then had the idea to share, in a single database, not the whole of their family trees but what French genealogists call a liste éclair. The French idiom does not translate directly into English, where such a list would be known by the more prosaic title of Surname Interests List. A liste éclair is a list of surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
s which a genealogist is interested in, due to them appearing in their ancestry, associated to the locations where one's ancestors have lived. That file is often enriched with the years of the beginning and the end of which one holds information about each name.
Thus, comparing two listes éclair, it is very easy to determine if they have surnames in common and, if so, to check if these surnames are located in the same place. If, when, comparing two files, the chances of finding data in common are low, when hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousand files are compared, the probability of a hit are multiplied. It is with this founding idea that GeneaNet was born, since the internet is a way to exchange and compare the listes éclair of genealogists worldwide.
Hence, a simple search in this "index of indices" is a way to know that a given surname, in a given location, between such and such year, is studied by a given genealogist (usually as a hobby).
One can also publish an online family tree, by sending a gedcom file to the site, or by managing the family tree directly on the Geneanet site. Geneanet is based on GeneWeb software.
The ancestor of GeneaNet was called LPF, Liste des patronymes de France, which was launched in June 1996.
See also
- Family historyFamily historyFamily history is the systematic narrative and research of past events relating to a specific family, or specific families.- Introduction :...
- GenealogyGenealogyGenealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
- List of genealogy portals
- List of general genealogy databases