Friday 5 August 2011

Discovering the size of the STEERS ONS

The Guild of One Name Stuides WiKi defines the size of a study by the number of entries in the 1881 England and Wales Census. The size is defined as


1 – 30
 Tiny
30 – 300
 Small
300 – 3,000
 Medium
3,000 – 30,000
 Large
30,000 – 300,000
 Extra Large
More than 300,000
 Extra-Extra Large

In order to capture the size of my ONS I have taken the average number of "hits" from the main genealogy sites (Family Search, FMP and Ancestry). I have not yet checked all the "hits" for accuracy as this study is in its infancy; however I believe that by doing it this way I will have a relatively accurate overview of my task ahead.

Surname
Average occurrence in 1881 England & Wales Census
Size of Study
STEAR
212
Small
STEARES
7
Tiny
STEARS
187
Small
STEER
3,189
Large
STEERE
239
Small
STEERES
0
N/A
STEERS
553
Medium
  
All Above Variants
4,388
Large
  
STEARES, STEARS, STEERES & STEERS
747
Medium


As previously stated, I am going to concentrate my efforts on the STEARES, STEARS, STEERS and STEERS entries or I am likely to become overwhelmed by the data and this will inhibit the moving forward of the study in a meaningful way.

With this in mind I am classing the STEERS ONS as a "Medium".