Profile Improvement Project
Unknowns Team
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| Click to download the WikiTree Day 2022 Slideshow |
Contents |
Mission
To improve the integrity of WikiTree by identifying and updating profiles with an Unknown Last Name at Birth (LNAB) as per the Name Field Guidelines for Last Name at Birth.
| Date | Total Profiles | Unknown LNAB | Percent |
| 7 Oct 2025 | 43126299 | 356323 | 0.83% |
The Unknown Last Name at Birth (LNAB) count may never go down but it should contain only profiles that have been researched and proper names could not be found. Here is a summary of the count:
| Date | Total LNAB Unknown | Difference | Unknown LNAB without African-American Sticker | Difference | Unknown LNAB with African-American Sticker | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Nov 2023 | 326495 | |||||
| 20 Nov 2024 | 342875 | 4215 | 328604 | 10471 | 14271 | 3744 |
| 07 Oct 2025 | 342875 | 13448 | 334886 | 6282 | 21457 | 7186 |
Process
A. Select a profile to work on. Please work in the time period and/or location where you have the most research experience.
Select a profile via any of the methods below.
Follow the Communication before Editing guidance to collaborate with WikiTree members who are either Profile Managers or are on the Trusted List for Orphaned Profiles.
For any method you can narrow the search results as follows:
- After you right click on a column heading, you can change the search to get fewer results. You can change the search (such as limiting by birth location or seeing only orphaned profiles). Just add the additional criteria in the Text: box before the word "not". For example: to change
- LastNameatBirth=unknown open Location=Arkansas not African-American Sticker
- to see only orphaned profiles, the Text should read
- LastNameatBirth=unknown orphan open Location=Arkansas not African-American Sticker
- You can adjust the location in the same way, but all changes must be before the word "not".
- Please contact the Unknowns Team lead or the Profile Improvement Project leads with specific questions.
Unknown Profiles with no location
Right-click on a column heading to get a list of Unknown profiles, then click Get Profiles (in the lower left hand column). Profiles with public privacy are listed separately; the remaining profiles are open privacy. The Orphan and Managed profiles have no dates.
| Date | Public | Undated Orphan | Undated Managed | 16Cen | 17Cen | 18Cen | 19Cen | 20Cen | 21Cen | Total | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Nov 2023 | 11734 | 17826 | 11031 | 2907 | 11127 | 29661 | 44863 | 13651 | 8 | 142808 | |
| 20 Nov 2024 | 9324 | 17080 | 9025 | 2958 | 11364 | 29803 | 44543 | 13757 | 7 | 137861 | -2087 |
| 07 Oct 2025 | 5150 | 18118 | 8200 | 2997 | 11526 | 30156 | 44900 | 14863 | 4 | 137861 | -1947 |
| 11 Nov 2025 | 4349 | 18139 | 8107 | 3015 | 11561 | 30191 | 11807 | 14862 | 4 | 135625 | -289 |
| Total | -7183 |
Unknown Profiles by country
Right-click on a column heading to get a list of Unknown profiles, then click Get Profiles (in the lower left hand column). These are open profiles that may have a birth, marriage or death location in the country. They may or may not be orphaned.
| Date | Australia | Canada | England | France | Germany | Ireland | New Zealand | United States | USA | Total | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Nov 2023 | 3238 | 5717 | 32853 | 1042 | 9284 | 11417 | 1865 | 51217 | 11493 | 128126 | |
| 20 Nov 2024 | 3564 | 6118 | 34029 | 1085 | 9611 | 12732 | 2066 | 55256 | 9748 | 134209 | 2982 |
| 07 Oct 2025 | 3804 | 6332 | 35954 | 1171 | 9807 | 13530 | 2127 | 58836 | 9431 | 140992 | 6783 |
| 11 Nov 2025 | 3834 | 6344 | 36078 | 1179 | 9815 | 13624 | 2073 | 59061 | 9363 | 141361 | 369 |
| Total | 13235 |
United States Unknown Profiles by state
To find a profile that may have a birth, marriage, or death location for a specific state in the United States, right-click on the name of the state below, then click Get Profiles (in the lower left hand column). They may or may not be orphaned. Also you can navigate to the United States Project and click on the desired state. Then navigate to the individual state's Ongoing List of Things to Do and click on the name of the state for the Unknowns item.
Historic numbers
The following are historic Unknown numbers from earlier reports. These are open or public profiles that are unsourced and have the Last Name At Birth (LNAB) as Unknown.
| Unknowns Unsourced Open or Public | 17 Mar 2022 | 5 Oct 2022 | Jul 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16th Century 1500-1599 | 1,325 | 1,462 | 1594 |
| 17th Century 1600-1699 | 3,113 | 3,262 | 3465 |
| 18th Century 1700-1799 | 6,773 | 7,047 | 7294 |
| 19th Century 1800-1899 | 7,644 | 7,713 | 7594 |
| 20th Century 1900-1999 | 1,628 | 2,223 | 1791 |
| 21st Century 2000-2999 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Total | 20,483 | 21,709 | 21,720 |
Earlier numbers include profiles with privacy levels more restrictive than open and public:
| Alias | 28 Sep 2016 | 3 Feb 2018 | 25 Nov 2019 | 10 Oct 2020 | 8 Jun 2021 | 7 Jan 2022 | 5 Oct 2022 | Jul 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 246,758 | 276,976 | 308,578 | 315,805 | 323,599 | 334,095 | 351,030 | 358,805 |
| Growth % | 12.25% | 11.41% | 2.34% | 2.47% | 3.24% | 4.9% | 2.21%| |
B. Search for possible duplicates. Only merge if the two profiles were intended to represent the same person. If the profile is linked to another profile, such as a spouse or child, it can sometimes be helpful to look for duplicates for the other profile in order to identify a duplicate for the Unknown.
C. If an alias, e. g., Unknown/UNKNOWN, is used for the Last Name at Birth (LNAB):
- Is the profile from a time, place or culture where Last Names at Birth (LNAB) are not used?
- If Yes, skip the following steps. Unknown as a Last Name at Birth (LNAB) in this case is a valid usage; no further action is required.
- If No, go to the next step.
- On the surnames list is a profile marked Active?
- If Yes, skip the following steps. An alias in this case is being used by an active member of WikiTree and is a valid usage; no further action is required.
- If No, go to the next step.
- Does the profile have a privacy status other than Open (white), that is, Public (green) or Private (yellow or red)?
- If Yes, you may need to contact the Profile Manager. Only Open privacy level profiles can be edited by any WikiTree Genealogist.
- If No (profile is Open and can be edited), go to the next step.
- Does the profile have a Profile Manager? Or someone on the Trusted List who is not Profile Manager? Always be sure to check the Privacy tab for Trusted List.
- If Yes, contact the Profile Manager or Trusted List member to see if a corrected LNAB is known or can be discovered.
- If No, go to the next step.
- Is the profile a married woman with an alias as her LNAB in a time/culture where a wife normally takes her husband's name at marriage?
- If Yes, and research has been done and it is unlikely that future research will find her LNAB, no further action is required. This is a valid usage. If you have exhausted all possible means of determining her LNAB, consider adding a Research Notes section to the biography outlining your results. This will notify other researchers of what work has been done so it will not be duplicated. You might verify that her husband's surname is listed in the Current or Other Last Name fields.
- If No, go to the next step.
- Does the profile have identifiable data? Are there birth/death dates? Is there information in the biography such as a narrative bio, sources, etc.?
- If Yes, skip the following steps. No further action is required.
- If No, go to the next step.
- Is the profile connected to one or more other profiles? For example: spouse, child(ren), parents.
- If Yes, no further action is required.
- If No, add a comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion with a link to the profile, include an explanation of what you have looked for and/or discovered
Best Practices
| No. | Profile Type | How to Manage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Completely blank, orphaned, no information except an alias in both the first and last name fields. | Add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion |
| 2 | Completely blank, no information except an alias in both the first and last name, has a profile manager. | Add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion |
| 3 | Limited with no connections – Orphaned, not connected to any other profile, has either first or last name with an alias. Has no dates/locations which would enable researcher to identify profile. | Add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion |
| 4 | Unknown with connections – a valid use of an alias, example: maiden name unknown, family members connected. | Research to find a correct name or connected duplicate with the correct name for merging. If nothing is found, no further action is required. |
| 5 | Unknown that will not be known - example, the unknown father of a child born out of wedlock. Be aware that, at one time, creating profiles for siblings with no parent would create an Unknown father profile automatically. Such profiles are to be left intact and attached to the siblings in order for them to be linked as a family. | If only one child, add comment to Possible Profiles for Deletion |
| 6 | Unnamed Infant– This is the recommended Proper First Name/Preferred First Name convention in English language profiles for an infant who died before she/he could be named or was stillborn. Other countries/languages may use an appropriate term that expresses the same meaning. | No action required. |
| 7 | None– This naming practice is being used for individuals born in a time/culture/place where Last Names at Birth (LNAB) are not used. As of now, it is a valid usage for some Projects. | No action required. |
| 8 | Other | Ask in Discord or the GoogleGroup on unusual profiles that do not fall into the above profile types |
Notes on research and Redirects
By Steve Harris, posted on G2G March 2023
Corrections are always good for the tree. We just need to be cognizant of the history of the profile, the current state of the profile, and what the future changes to the profile might look like. We have to remember that every change made on a wiki has a "cost".
In the case of this specific profile, Unkown-1098, I would say the change to LNAB is fine to make, since "Unknown" may unfortunately be her legacy here on WikiTree.
History: No merges and/or LNAB changes to date (meaning no existing redirects).
Current State: Correct (sourced) LNAB will be difficult to find, and many people have apparently already tried.
Future: LNAB may never be found.
Based on the above, we only talking about one redirect now, and if we are lucky, a second redirect in the distant future to a correct (sourced) LNAB. This small number of redirects poses no issues.
Resources
- Unknowns team Unknowns team home page.
- Unknowns Aliases Tasks process page
- Name Fields Guidelines for using name fields
