Family names are at the heart of our family history research. With each new generation, and each new family marriage we encounter in our research, we keep coming across names that are new to us too, so it’s a continual (and luckily fascinating) learning curve. Find advice to help you plot the origins of your family names… plus learn how to map your surnames… and discover the fascinating reasons why some people had to change their names in World War II. All this and more in the July issue of Family Tree.

Surnames as false friends

In his indepth guide, Chris Paton explains how surnames may be both a blessing and a problem for our research. Plus he explains how to trace changes of name

Shape up your search skills in 5 steps

Dr Sophie Kay shares five very practical tactics to start using today for successful family history searching

'Proof' or works of fiction?

Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal invites us to reflect how far we can rely on the details in official records, and why erroneous information may have crept in

A history of the Workhouse

Author Susie Kearley considers the conditions in which our ancestors once lived and worked in this dreaded institution

From ‘down & out’ to respect radical

Family historian Sue Turner recounts her ancestor’s life experiences, the desperation that drove him to leave & the compassion that made him fight for workers’ rights

Twiglets: And so, to France

Tree-tracing diarist Gill Shaw starts her foray into the records of France to map her adopted ancestor’s French family tree

DNA Workshop

DNA advisor Karen Evans helps readers solve mysteries, some of which have remained unsolved for decades, surrounding the identities of a grandfather, a great-grandfather & a possibly prestigious surname connection

Getting started & keeping organised

Tips for family history newbies (or those looking for a refresher) on helpful websites, how to keep your records tidy & how to remember what you’ve found out

Plus all your favourite regulars: photo-dating expert Jayne Shrimpton shares valuable dating clues, readers’ letters, readers’ questions, dates for your diary, and the thought-provoking wordsmith Diane Lindsay explains how she’s really tried not to have fun with Hints, but...