We've all had to deal with a common name weaving through our family's history. When the name pops up in our searches – how do we know that we are on the trail of the "right" John Smith. I've seen it recorded that there are over 30,000 John Smiths in the 1900 US census. With that many Smiths in the records, research can become a nightmare if you don't have a few tricks to narrow the field.

I have been looking for my grandma family for years with no luck at all . I was searching the net and I found a lady in Michigan and I called her she gave me an email address to a lady in Germany who had a lot of information on the family .

My grandma last name was : Leerkamp from Suddendorf , Germany

Her Father name was Hermann Leerkamp 02-03-1877 and he married
Mother Ebba Escherhausen ( Ufen ) 04-01-1895 .

Hermann immigrated to the U.S. in Sept 15 , 1903 at Ellis Island . ( He was 27 years old at the time )

Hermann had 3 brothers
*24.07.1870 Bernd

*16.11.1872 Gerhard

On March 2, 2009, U.S. President Obama proclaimed that March is Irish-American Month. Over 40 million Americans claim to have Irish ancestors. Many can trace their ancestry back to the 1840s and the great Irish potato famine. In the late 1840s over a million Irish immigrated to North America. It's hard to imagine the lives and times of these Irish people.

I was researching my family tree over the weekend, and realized that I had missed a number of opportunities to find a particular ancestor that I have been researching for several months. Have you ever missed a great opportunity to find one of your long-lost ancestors?

My family name seems to have changed in the early 1800's. Why did that happen and how do I find out why it changed?

My mom says that my father's family came from Ireland but I can't seem to find any evidence of that. How do I find the origin of my family name?

I am new to genealogy and I want to find the best way to tracy my ancestry. What do I do first?

You probably have an idea about your last name origin. Your parents and grandparents recited stories of your families' emigration. You may have only had a brief recollection of these stories; but now you think that it's time to thoroughly trace the origins of your ancestors and record their names and stories for future generations. But where do you start? Your task is to uncover those bits of information, one name at a time, so future generations can recognize your family's heritage and the lives they led so long ago.

Have you ever thought about your family origins? Often we don't recognize how important it is to document the origins of family names. Our last name is not just the primary key for family tree research it's our heritage and our history. Understanding the source and meaning of our last names directs us to where our ancestors originate and helps us appreciate the challenges that our family has endured throughout history.

Family history presents twists and turns that you could never imagine. Families go their separate ways only to drift back together again later. Searching for your ancestors' story and their heritage is a very rewarding hobby. However, that doesn't mean that finding your ancestry and their stories will be easy. Amateur genealogists run into dead end regularly. Fortunately, there are tools to trace your ancestor and tell the story that was hidden for years.