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GENI should not auto-back-fill surname - some cultures and timeframes do NOT assign surnames at birth

Ellen Pacheco

January 18, 2026 17:59

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In some cultures (example: Azores, Portugal) babies were NOT assigned a surname at birth. When they became adults they could choose whatever surname they wanted, often NOT the father's surname.

GENI incorrectly flags these "no surname" records. Worse, I have noticed that GENI sometimes backfills the surname to match the father's surname. This results in incorrect data and difficulties searching. No data should ever be filled in without a source to back it up.

Some of us have spent thousands of hours on careful research. Please, GENI, stop messing with that research.

Ellen  

6 comments

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  Geni Support Team January 20, 2026 23:09

  Hi Ellen, as a global tree, we try to accommodate other cultures as much as we can. Note that the Consistency Checker only brings to attention inconsistencies that may need your attention. If it is correct, then you can mark it correct for all users. Simply click "Ignore" and "Mark this correct for all users."

  

  Note that the surname suggestion is a personal setting. It can be turned off by unchecking the box in the add profile form. Some users find it helpful, and those that do not, can turn it off.

  

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  Ellen Pacheco January 24, 2026 01:48

  Thank you for the information, very helpful.

  On the 'Revisions' tab for several ancestors it listed "GENI" as having updated the birth surname field. Is that an automated bot, or a system administrator? Is there a way to prevent "GENI" from changing fields?

  Thanks again

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  Geni Support Team January 26, 2026 19:06

  Can you please provide the link to a specific example? 

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  Ellen Pacheco January 26, 2026 23:52

  I've come across several, but here's one:

  https://www.geni.com/people/Catarina/6000000116541744823#/tab/revision

  The entry for "GENI" Oct 21, 2023

  Catarina da Costa's profile was updated. birth surname and middle name Oct 21, 2023 at 10:41 PM · view

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  Geni Support Team January 27, 2026 00:06

  That's the result of the merge completed by Ellen Pacheco. Note the timestamps. This is an automatic process.

  

  If you look at the merge revision here https://www.geni.com/merge/view?revision_id=84713618740 , you can see that the profile that was merged into Catarina da Costa had the middle name "da" and the birth surname "Costa." Since the middle name and birth surname fields were blank on the original profile, when the merge was completed, the middle name and birth surname from the other profile were carried over.

  

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  Ellen Pacheco January 27, 2026 00:58

  ah I see, thank you. I'll have to watch out for that going forward!