Soundex is a phonetic code used to index names based on their sound in English.
Have you ever tried to trace a name in your family tree and discovered one that looked similar but had an extra consonant or ended in "e"? Using this coding could help in the search for that lost ancestor.
The soundex code was originally developed in the early 1900's and used to analyze the late 19th century US Census. Family tree genealogists used the coding to help trace names around the world.
Once you understand the coding basics, you can trace those ancestors as they moved. Check out the links on this page - to help you uncover those illusive ancestors and help you search, document and display your family tree for future generations.
The code is 4 characters long. The first part is simply the first letter. The second part is 3 numbers that represent the consonants. Try this for your name:
- Keep the first letter.
- Remove all occurrences of "A, E, H, I, O, U, W, Y" (unless it's the first letter).
- Assign number for the remaining consonants based on:
- "B, F, P, V" = 1
- "C, G, J, K, Q, S, X, Z" = 2
- "D, T" = 3
- "L" = 4
- "M, N" = 5
- "R" = 6
- If 2 or more letters, with the same number were adjacent in the original name (before step 1) or adjacent except for an "H" or "W" (American Census version) then omit all but the first letter.
- Return the first 4 characters padded with zeros.
For example: Smith is coded "S350". Some other names coded the same are: Schmid, Smithey, Smyth, Smythe, Snaith, Sneath, etc.
