Mobile Records Search is now FREE
From your Android or iPhone app, you can now access the Mobile Records Search for free.
The Mobile Records Search feature enables you to search for headstones on the go. While you are at a cemetery taking photos, you can search for specific names to find ancestors. When you find a headstone you want to view, tap on it, and you can view both the image of the headstone and a map of its location in the cemetery.
We hope you enjoy this great feature. To unlock this feature, tap on Records on the BillionGraves Home screen on your app. If you are having any problems accessing the Mobile Records Search, check your dashboard in the app to be sure you are signed in, then return to the Records view to begin your search. If you have any questions, feel free to contact support.
Users who purchased the records search (for $2.99) before it became free have been given a notifications package as a replacement for their purchase (a $4.99 value).
Deciphering Welsh Writing
Transcribers may have noticed the recent influx of Welsh headstones. When BillionGraves first started to get a lot of photos from Sweden, one of our users provided information to help us transcribe Swedish stones. Luckily one of the individuals uploading photos from Wales has supplied a similar primer that explains phrases and words that commonly appear on Welsh headstones. Below are list of months, weekdays, family relations, feminine and masculine possessive forms, plural possessive forms, notes of affection (usually found in the epitaph), preliminary statements (also common in epitaphs), and other key words and phrases.
You’ll notice that some words appear in more than one form. For example, son appears as both mab and fab. This is because in Welsh, certain letters undergo a sound mutation when combined with other sounds. Thus mab means son when the word stands alone, but in a phrase like her beloved son it appears as fab (ei hannwyl fab) because the M sound mutates to an F (which, in Welsh, sounds like the English V—are you confused yet?).
(Note: Even though this post will give you translations for some Welsh words, please transcribe the stone in the original language; you can add the English translation in the description box if you so choose. Most of these are listed to help you determine which words on the stone are names and how to determine the birth and death dates.)
Months of the Year
Welsh: English
Ionawr: January
Chwefror: February
Mawrth: March
Ebrill: April
Mai: May
Mehefin: June
Gorffennaf/Gorphenaf: July
Awst: August
Medi: September
Hydref: October
Tachwedd: November
Rhagfyr: December
Days of the Week
Dydd Llun: Monday
Dydd Mawrth: Tuesday
Dydd Mercher: Wednesday
Dydd Iau: Thursday
Dydd Gwener: Friday
Dydd Sadwrn: Saturday
Dydd Sul: Sunday
Family Relations
Baban: Baby
Brawd: Brother
Cefnder: Cousin (Male)
Chwaer: Sister
Cyfnither: Cousin (Female)
Gwraig: Wife
Gwr: Husband
Mab: Son
Mam: Mother
Mam-gu: Grandmother
Merch: Daughter
Nai: Nephew
Nain: Grandmother
Nith: Niece
Plant: Children
Plentyn: Child
Priod: Spouse
Tad: Father
Tad-cu: Grandfather
Taid: Grandfather
Wyr: Grandson
Wyres: Granddaughter
Feminine Possessive Forms
Ei gwr: Her husband
Ei mab: Her son
Ei merch: Her daughter
Ei mherch: Her daughter
Ei phlentyn: Her spouse
Ei phriod: Her spouse
Ei hannwyl blentyn: Her beloved child
Ei hannwyl briod: Her beloved spouse
Ei hannwyl fab: Her beloved son
Ei hannwyl ferch: Her beloved daughter
Ei hannwyl wr: Her beloved husband
Masculine Possessive Forms
Ei blentyn – His child
Ei briod – His Spouse
Ei fab – His son
Ei ferch – His daughter
Ei Wraig – His wife
Ei annwyl blentyn – His beloved child
Ei annwyl briod – His beloved spouse
Ei annwyl fab – His beloved Son
Ei annwyl ferch – His beloved daughter
Ei annwyl wraig – His beloved wife
Plural Possessive Forms
Eu mab: Their son
Eu baban: Their baby
Eu merch: Their daughter
Eu plenty: Their child
Eu hannwyl blentyn: Their beloved child
Eu hannwyl fab: Their beloved son
Eu hannwyl faban: Their beloved baby
Eu hannwyl ferch: Their beloved daughter
Notes of Affection
Anwyl Blant: the beloved children
Annwyl blentyn: the beloved child
Annwyl briod: the beloved spouse
Annwyl dad: the beloved father
Annwyl fab: the beloved son
Annwyl faban: the beloved baby
Annwyl fam: the beloved mother
Annwyl ferch: the beloved daughter
Annwyl wr: the beloved husband
Annwyl wraig: the beloved wife
Preliminary Statements
Bedd: Grave
Er cof am: In memory of
Er cof tyner am: In tender memory of
Er serchog gof am: In loving memory of
Er serchus gof am: In loving memory of
Gorweddle: The resting place
I gofio’n dyner am: In tender memory of
O dan y garreg hon: Underneath this stone
Yma y claddwyd: Here was buried
Yma y gorwedd: Here lieth
Other Key Words and Phrases for Headstones
Blwyddyn: Year
Corff/Corph: Body
Diwrnod: Day
Dydd: Day
Ganwyd: Born
Gynt o: Formally of
Hefyd: Also
Hunodd yn yr Iesu: Fell asleep in Jesus
Isod: Underneath/Below
Mis: Month
Oed: Age
O’r plwyf hwn: Of this parish
Y dywededig uchod: The above named (Male)
Y Ddywededig uchod: The above named (Female)
Yn 7 mlwydd oed: 7 years old
Yr hwn a fu farw: Who died (Male)
Yr Hon a fu farw: Who died (Female)
Uchod: Above
If you’re looking up Welsh words in a dictionary, remember that CH, FF, LL, RH, TH, and DD are all distinct alphabet letters with their own sounds, so words that start with CH will be found in the CH section of a dictionary, not the C section, etc.
If you think transcribers could use some tips for transcribing headstones from your area, send some notes to me at kristy.stewart @ billiongraves.com and I’ll share them here for everyone to use.
Understanding Name Discrepancies on Headstones
This Wednesday I had the pleasure of chatting with the sexton of the largest municipal cemetery in the United States: Salt Lake City Cemetery. With over 120,000 graves inside, it’s quite the area of responsibility to look after and care for. The sexton was very open to sharing some of his experiences with me, and there was one aspect of his work that I found interesting: sometimes the name on someone’s headstone is not the name they went by, or even their official name.This name discrepancy can even exist within cemetery records—sometimes the sexton has the official name recorded, but the “unofficial” name gets put on the headstone. Most of the time this isn’t the case, but the SLC sexton has known it to happen often enough that it’s worth mentioning.
The reason behind these discrepancies is that what goes on the headstone is 100% the surviving family members’ decision. What the family puts on the headstone is what makes the most sense to them, and sometimes that means using a personal, in-the-family name on the grave monument.
This makes sense. However, if you’re looking for hard facts to put into your family tree, it can cause you a bit of a hiccup if the headstone record doesn’t match the other sources you already have (or other sources you find further down the research road). Even so, having these not-so-official names (or official names that defy what the deceased individual was called in life) can give you an interesting peek into the family relations or traditions of your ancestors. You can learn about a nickname, understand a personal quirk, or uncover a family dispute (the sexton said that sometimes, sadly, he’ll see mourning families divided over what to put on the headstone because everyone feels so close to the deceased).
Knowing what’s on someone’s headstone gives you a glimpse at his or her circumstances in the last times of their life. It can help you see them as a person instead of a name on a chart, or understand family dynamics from the past. This is part of the reason why photos are such an integral part of BillionGraves. Abbreviated records (or official records) may not capture the same character and personality that many headstones can portray. When you can see the actual stone, just as though you were in the cemetery yourself, you can gather information and impressions you couldn’t get from just a name and a pair of dates.
Name discrepancies in old records can be frustrating, but even when your sources don’t completely support one another, each one can add to the past-filled family portrait you try to paint with your family research. When it comes to getting to know your family, every little bit helps.
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The headstone photo was taken in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Turning the headstone into a sort of mountain sculpture adds character, don’t you think?