Forums Geneanet

When I enter my family name at the "Origin of the name xxxxx"search, a world map comes up to show the distribution of the name. For example, the highest population of the name I input, appears in France, and more specifically in Southwest France. I find this distribution map very fascinating. My question is how was this data collected? Was it a collection of census information? Was it from other family genealogical researchers findings?

The map is made from the collection of family trees.

I am new to Geneanet and this answered was most useful. Second part though is that below the map is a short list of locations where the surname is prevalent and the number of people with that surname in that location. Is there any way to identify whose tree that surname might appear in by the location? Or to search the location for tree connections? This would be most helpful in locating others through their family tree connections.

Hi,
Below the list of locations, there is a list of trees containing that name. Unfortunately, there are no links in the locations list. However, you can do a search entering only a last name and a department, which should be close to what you're looking for.

Eric