Do foreign language family name search. Search engines that are in foreign language can be accessed in Google. It offers 140 versions of international search engines. MSN can also be a good source. The site that claims to have the biggest collection of family history (which comes in free, thank goodness! If you have an ancestor who was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, then you're in luck. The Mormon Church has one of the most comprehensive genealogical records in the world. It's also a good idea to get as many references as you can, since you can use these documents for cross referencing. The free relationship between character and phonetics made writings of different and not related languages a possibility. Sinographs is the other term for Chinese characters thus their writing is called sinography. The usage and design of characters in the Chinese dictionary creates an interesting problem. Other names, like Dunlop are actually based on location, but since language has evolved, the word is no longer associated with its original meaning. It means 'muddy hill'. Personal/Physical trait or nicknames These names are derived from an individual's distinguishing trait like skin color, facial features, physical deformities and unusual size or body shape. Obituaries are not able to tell much about a former relative. Looking in a site called USGenWeb can provide a description about the character especially if that person was quite popular. This is one step forward from the traditional way of going into the library and reading old periodicals or viewing microfilm Those who are able to get certain information from one website can access another to find out more. If you are already sure that your ancestor was a slave, identifying his or her last owner is the next priority. There are some slaves who used their last owner s name when they were declared free but then most of them didn t. Further research is still needed. Step four is about the slavery and owner s research.