If you encounter a record in the MyHeritage historical records search engine and you realize that there is an error with the spelling of the name, either because you understand the handwriting better, or because you have personal knowledge about that person, then you can correct the mistake and suggest the correct form of the last name, first name, or both, for any person in almost any record.
If, however, the record comes from another MyHeritage family tree, this feature is not available, and we recommend to instead contact the MyHeritage user who entered this information in their family tree and ask them to change that information.
The same is true for records that come from family trees of other genealogical sites such as Geni or FamilySearch though these might not be MyHeritage users.
If the record in question came from a Record Match, you need to browse through our collection catalog and locate the relevant collection by following the instructions in this article How can I browse through the collections available in the MyHeritage Search Engine?. Once you locate the collection, you will find the option to look for the individual in question and add the alternative you want to suggest in the record itself.
To correct a name associated with a record, please do as follows:
1. Click “Suggest an alternative” which is found at the bottom of almost every record:
If you are viewing a census record, you will typically see a list of several names associated with that record, residing in the same household or address. Select the name of the person in the list that you would like to fix.
When there are multiple names associated with a record, a drop-down menu with names will appear after you click “Suggest an alternative”:
2. Once you’ve selected a name, a dialog will open for submitting your fixes. Enter the correct names as you think they should be, in the field(s) where you think there is an error.
Tip! If you are fixing a record that involves a family and has many names attached to it, we recommend you fix all of their names if, for example, their surname is misspelled.
3. Then click the drop-down menu and choose a reason to explain why you are suggesting the alternative name.
4. The Notes field is important and allows you to explain to other users the additional knowledge you have about that person or the reason you are confident that your fix is correct.
5. When you’re done, click “Submit.”
After you’ve added an alternative name, it will be saved immediately into the system and will become searchable by all users of MyHeritage within a few days through an automatic process that happens every week.
The alternative name that you suggested will appear at the top of the record page below the original transcribed name:
Suggested alternatives also appear in search results, so if someone looks for the alternative name “Mary Fisk”, they will be able to find the relevant record:
Some records, such as census records, will display a convenient list of suggested names attached to that record, as in the example below:
In records with suggested alternatives, a new section is added at the bottom, named Alternatives contributed by MyHeritage members. This section displays the original name in the record, the suggested alternatives, the added notes, and most importantly, it gives credit to the user who contributed each fix.
If you hover the mouse cursor over the Note icon, a tooltip will appear displaying the submitter’s notes:
You can also get in touch with the person who contributed the suggestion. This could be very useful, because that person might have more information about the person or family in the record, and could even be related to you . Simply click on ‘Contact XX’ to contact the user who submitted the alternative name:
Note: Contacting other MyHeritage users requires a Site or Data subscription.
You may edit or erase the alternative suggestions you made at any time. Click on the pencil icon to edit the suggested alternative, or on the trash bin icon to delete it.
Note #2: This feature is only to fix mistakes in names, and should not be used to add other information known only to you that does not appear in the record.
When you save a record or confirm a match, you can easily extract the names suggested by other users to your tree.
Suggesting alternatives is a free feature that anyone can use on records they have access to. Please note that some records in the MyHeritage Search Engine are only available to subscribers with a Data or a Complete subscription.