Finding Someone Hidden in a US Census

Are you looking for someone in a particular census and you can’t seem to find them? It is possible that they aren’t on the census. But before you come to that conclusion, here are some tips for locating someone hiding in plain sight!

Why can’t they be found?

Sometimes the person or family in question is on the census but they can’t be found. Here are some of the main reasons they might not be easy to find.

  • The handwriting of the census worker was so awful that even experienced transcribers have a hard time reading it.
  • The name is written incorrectly on the census. In some years the instructions gave explicit instructions to the census worker not to let anyone (other than other census workers) see what they wrote down.1 So if the census taker wrote the wrong name down, there was no one to catch the mistake. There are many reasons the name could be written incorrectly, but that’s for another day and time.
  • The name is incorrectly indexed, even if the name is clearly written.
  • The person accidentally got left off the copy of the census record you are looking at. For some years and locations, multiple copies of the census were created

You might not be able to find someone on a census record because they were never enumerated. But assuming they are on there, but hard to find, here are several strategies I have used when trying to find someone on a census record.

Use all variations of the name

If someone has both a first and a middle name, search with both names and also both names individually. Search both exact options and broad options. Also try searching with all nicknames for the person. While most search engines will search similar names, they may rank differently and it may be harder to sift through the long list of results. For instance, if someone is named Elizabeth, search under the names Betty, Lizzie, Beth, Eliza, and any other variation of the name you can think of. Some searches will do this automatically, or you can choose to search all variations individually.

Search for neighbors

Suppose you find someone on one census but you can’t find them on either the census before or after. If they haven’t moved, they should be near the same people on both censuses. Searching the neighbors can help direct you to the pages for the correct neighborhood. Search the entire record set. It often took multiple visits to the neighborhood to document everyone there, so even if people lived next door, if one of the neighbors was away from home during the first visit they may not be recorded next to their neighbors. Different censuses had different rules for recording, and just because there were rules, doesn’t mean they were followed completely.

Be careful when doing this because sometimes the neighbor could have moved! I have used this method multiple times and sometimes it takes searching several neighbors until I get to the correct record set.

Use of wildcards * and ?

The asterisk symbol (*) is used for variations of one or more letter. You only use one asterisk and all options show up. For instance, let’s say you assume a name was just indexed incorrectly. You could search for “Archibald *son” and all Archibalds with a surname ending in “son” would appear. I often do multiple variations for different names. If I have the name Johnson, I might do John*, J*son, Jo*son,*o*son, J*, etc. The surname James might incorrectly be indexed as Jones or some other variation, so a search for J*s might find more possibilities. This allows more options to show up than using the whole surname but hopefully not too many to sort through. It is also helpful when names can be spelled differently, such as Stevens or Stephens. A search for Ste*ens will include both (and others).

The question mark (?) allows replacement of one letter. For instance, if you want to search for both Elizabeth and Elisabeth but you don’t want other variations of the name (such as Lizzie or Betty), you could do an exact search for Eli?abeth. It also allows for searches such as Smith or Smyth, which I have actually used. I saw both spellings in the same document which meant I definitely wanted to search both variations when looking for other records.

Search multiple websites

Census records are available on multiple websites. The major genealogical websites include ancestry.com, findmypast.org, familysearch.org, and myheritage.com. However, there are other websites that also include census information. The indexes could be different on each website. This means an ancestor could be indexed incorrectly on one website but appear in the index of a different website.

Different websites have different search capabilities. Each website has strengths. I have found census records easily on one website that I couldn’t find on another.

Some websites also include a soundex index (for some censuses). A simplified explanation of a soundex is that the index will provide similar sounding names.2 However, it is more complicated than that since a soundex is where each name is given a code based on a set of rules. Names with matching codes are considered to be similar. So when you search a name, a soundex index will produce different name variations than what you had considered. Different websites may or may not use soundex codes. Those that use the same soundex code may rank search results differently, making records easier to find on one website versus another.

Many libraries have access to genealogical software allowing you to search other companies’ databases without requiring you to have your own subscription.

The National Archives (NARA) has microfilm publications of the US census that are available at several libraries. Many census record images can also be found online at internet archives.3

Look at a state copy (if it exists)

In the early years of census taking in the US, states were often responsible for collecting census information. A copy was made for state records and another copy sent to the federal government.4 This practice stopped at some point and whether the states still retain their copies will vary by state and census year. I would recommend checking with state archives or family history societies for the area in question. States sometimes conducted their own censuses, but that’s different from the state copy of a federal census.

Use keyword search

Since many censuses include the occupation, I often include the occupation as a keyword when I’m stuck. This filters down results when there are too many to sift through. Sometimes it helps when I’m using only the first or only the last name in a search. I can search for all Johns, born in New York in 1875 who were physicians. I will also use other names for an occupation.For example, instead of physician I might use doctor or medical. If I knew the type of doctor, such as a pediatrician, I would try using that word too.

Address search

If you know the address or street where the person lived you can use the street name or house number in a search (depending on the census year and thoroughness of the index). City directories might be helpful in identifying someone’s address. Addresses were listed on the US censuses beginning with the 1880 census.

If you know where the person was living at the time of the census and you can’t seem to find them, first find the record set and then look through each page. This is how research was done before indexes and sometimes may still be necessary when someone can’t be found. I tend to use just the street address to find the record set. Enumeration maps may also be available to help identify the record set.

Research everyone in the household

If I am looking for a family and I can’t find them researching the parents’ names, I start looking for the children or other household members. If I am looking for a future census, I tend to start with younger children since they likely still lived at home 10 years later. If I am looking for a prior census, I start with someone who would be 10 or younger for the same reasons, they are more likely to be at home. I also like choosing the child with the most unique name, if there is one. So if there are sisters Elizabeth and Charlotte, I would search for Charlotte first. Unique names are often easier to find, especially if I do searches without the surname.

Broaden or narrow your search terms

Sometimes your terms are too broad and sometimes they are too specific. Doing searches with various search terms can help find that elusive ancestor! Sometimes too many results come up and it is hard to filter through all of them. And sometimes not enough show up.

There are 4 main items I use when searching: Name, age, birth location, and residence at the time of the census. I search by removing different aspects of the search. I also will include different variations.

Name

  • First, Middle, and Last names
  • First name only
  • Middle name only
  • Last name only
  • First and middle names
  • First and last names
  • Middle and last names
  • All variations of the name or different possible spellings (use wildcards when necessary)

Age

  • Known age
  • Broaden the age range by 1 or 2 years
  • Continue to broaden the range. I have seen ages off by as many as 10 years on the census.

Birth Location

  • States
  • Neighboring States-boundaries may have changed or they may have been born in one state but the parents were living somewhere else. Thus there may be variations in their reported birth location.
  • Country- If they are foreign born, think of all the different names the country had in their lifetime. If they were born in the US, doing a general US wide search will produce more results when more narrow searches aren’t giving results.

Residence - Search different levels individually.

  • City/town
  • County
  • State
  • Country

Using the four main search terms (name, age, birth location, and residence), try only providing information for some of the search terms. This is helpful when someone is indexed incorrectly or their name is incorrectly written on the census.

In addition, you can use partial names, but some of them wouldn’t be practical to use. For instance, a search for an 18 year old Elizabeth born in the state of California would not be a very useful search. But a search for a Hortensia, whether residing in a small town or even in all of California might be very helpful. For each of the four categories (name, age, birth location, and residence), you may want to use some sort of variation as discussed above. But as mentioned, only use what makes sense for your particular situation. Some options for different search term combinations are:

  • Name, Age, Birth location, Residence
  • Name, Age, Birth location
  • Name, Age, Residence
  • Name, Birth location, Residence
  • Name, Age
  • Name, Birth location
  • Name, Residence

Remember, boundaries changed

Boundaries changed. What was Georgia in 1790 was broken up into Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama by 1820.5 You won’t find a Mississippi census for 1790, but it is still important to understand why there are discrepancies in records, for instance, reporting birth location. If you have conflicting records saying, for example, that someone was born in both Mississippi and Alabama, they may have lived in the part of Mississippi that became part of Alabama. That can help narrow your search.

County boundaries changed too, and is probably more important to remember when it comes to searching the censuses. Someone could live in the same house and live in multiple counties throughout their life. Search for county boundary changes for the area you are researching to get other clues for what census record sets to check.

Persevere

It is definitely possible that the person you are searching for and cannot find was left off of the census. However, if the person you are searching for is just hidden, these techniques can help to bring them to light. Don't give up! Happy hunting!

  1. United States Census Bureau, 1940 Census Instructions to Enumerators, accessed 24 April 2021. One example is the 1940 enumerator instructions, paragraph 21. “Be particularly careful when enumerating a household that no person is reading the entries you are making or the entries you have made for other households. You are not permitted to show anyone, other than authorized census employees, the schedules you have filled out.” ↩

  2. The National Archives, Soundex System, accessed 22 April 2021. ↩

  3. Allen County Public Library, https://archive.org/details/us_census, accessed 23 April 2021. This contains digitization of NARA films. There are no indexes but are a great source if you need/want to look through the image set. ↩

  4. Family Search, United States Census Historical Background, accessed 22 April 2021. ↩

  5. Lincoln Mullen. Historical Boundaries of the United States, 1783-1912, accessed 22 April 2021. This is a great interactive tool for seeing how the state boundaries in the United States changed. ↩

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