2007-05-28 10:05:19 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Beware of coat of arms peddlers. There is not such thing as a family crest.
There are no laws in the United States regarding heraldry and there are companies that sell them based only on your surname without documented proof you are entitled to one.
A person is free to display one if they wish but it is like putting up a picture of a famous person with their surname and claiming him as their direct ancestor whether they know he is or not.
Many coats of arms have the same name. Lewis for instance has about 200 which means 200 different individuals were granted one. Not eveyone with the surname Lewis is any way related to any of the 200 granted a coat of arms, much less be a direct male descendant.
Wendy gave you a very good answer. Not everyone with the same surname come from the same root. There was a time when people did not have surnames and they took the name of the town, castle, lake etc they lived close to, or the name of their occupation, or their names indicated they were the son of someone. Sons of Stephen became Stephenson. However, you can imagine there was more than one Stephen than had sons.
2007-05-28 12:40:39 · answer #1 · answered by Shirley T 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Stephenson is a common name, and it would be a huge mistake to assume that all Stephensons are related, or all come from one ancestor.
The real process of finding people who are related to you, is doing research on YOUR known (or findable) ancestors and relatives. And yes, there IS a reliable way to sift through it all. You start by working from the known (present) backwards.. ie, start with your dad and verify his parents and siblings. Next, go to the previous generation (your grandparents), and do the same thing. Same for the great grandparents.
There are many places that you can go, ONCE YOU HAVE your basics. Such as www.genforum, which has surname sections (people researching the same name). Once you know that "your" Stephensons are the ones from Georgia in the 1800's, you will be able to match up with other relatives.
2007-05-28 11:23:03 · answer #2 · answered by wendy c 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes,my aunt living in California was a stephenson
2007-05-28 17:11:44 · answer #3 · answered by Akshay 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Here is the Stephenson genealogy message board where you will lots of other Stephensons:
http://genforum.genealogy.com/stephenson/
Good luck,
Dave
--
http://www.familypulse.org
2007-05-29 03:48:00 · answer #4 · answered by genealogist84 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My grandmother was a Stephenson. Anyone in particular you're searching for?
2007-05-28 13:09:12 · answer #5 · answered by EvilWoman0913 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't have the name but have a look at your family crest.
http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=Stephenson
I think the family motto is amazing, I really like it. Hope this helps you.
2007-05-28 10:21:12 · answer #6 · answered by itsjustme 7 · 0⤊ 5⤋
While you're here, is there a genealogy question we may try to help with?
2007-05-28 10:15:26 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 6⤋