Try, Try Again: Searching for Census Records

If you can't find the person you're looking for in the census records, try every member of the family who might be living with them.  Sometimes, the name you are looking for is indexed incorrectly, but other members of the household may be listed correctly.


I just ran into this: I had found one of my families in the 1900 census and in the 1920, but not in the 1910.  I tried several variations on the father's name and age, but could not get the right family.  This weekend, I was looking for another record for one of the daughters, and the 1910 census appeared! 

Sometimes, some of the names, ages and places of birth are so badly transcribed that a record is impossible to find.  But chances are that somebody in the family has enough correct information that you will be able to find them.  Many years ago, I was looking for census records for Anthony Magaziner, but couldn't find them because his name was transcribed as Nezoginer!  His wife Ethel was transcribed as Athel.  His sons and daughters were transcribed correctly, and I was able to find the records through them.

Try every known member of the household.  If that doesn't work try searching first name only, filtered by date and place of birth, and do that for each member of the family until you find what you're looking for.