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You've got questions about discovering, preserving and celebrating your family history; our experts have the answers.
Naming Nephews
A: In earlier centuries, nephew sometimes referred to a male or female child of a sibling or spouse's sibling, a male or female grandchild, a cousin or another relative. The habits or preferences of individual clerks and courts may have played a role in determining when nephew took on its current meaning in a given locale. By the end of the 17th century, though, most locales had narrowed the definition to the current meaning. Thus, you'd probably be safe in approaching 19th-century research with the current definition. Keep an open mind, and let available records guide your discovery of specific family relationships.
—Emily Croom
Emily Croom is the author of The Sleuth Book for Genealogists (Betterway Books, $18.99).
Pose your questions to our family history experts.
Q. In a guardianship order (1825 Onondaga County, NY), the guardian is called the nephew of the deceased. Did nephew in that time and place generally mean the son of one's sibling or the son of one's spouse's sibling as it does today?
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