How to use wildcard searches in family history research

Wildcard searches are a way of replacing unknown letters in a word using special characters. Instead of needing an exact spelling, you can build flexibility into your search.

They can be key to success when searching the vast genealogical record archives of websites like Findmypast.

The key is knowing which wildcard to use and when.

Asterisk (*)

The asterisk (*) replaces multiple characters in a word. This is useful when a surname or keyword may appear in several different forms in historical records.

For example, searching for Johns* may return Johnson, Johnston or Johnstone.

It can also help when you only know part of a name. Instead of guessing the full spelling, you can search a shorter base and let the wildcard expand the results. This is a form of truncation, where you shorten a term so that it matches multiple endings based on the number of characters being replaced.

Question mark (?)

The question mark (?) replaces a single character in a word. It is useful when most of a name is known, but one letter is uncertain.

For example, Sm?th may return Smith and Smyth.

Because it only replaces a single character, it gives more controlled results than an asterisk. This makes it especially useful when dealing with transcription errors or unclear handwriting in historical records.

Wildcard searches encourage a more flexible approach to research. Instead of relying on one exact spelling, you start to think in variations.

A name may have been written based on how it sounded, not how it was spelt; it may also have been recorded differently by different clerks or record keepers. This means a single person can appear under several different spellings across records.

Wildcard searches work best when you start to think more broadly about how information is stored across different databases. Records are not always consistent, and small differences in spelling or formatting can affect what appears in your results.

By using wildcard characters, you can adjust your search to match these variations instead of relying on one exact version of a name/keyword. This makes it easier to uncover records that may otherwise be missed. In many cases, this approach acts as a form of truncation, where part of a word is shortened so that multiple variations can be included in a single search. This is especially useful when working with large collections of historical records.

Rather than searching in a fixed way, wildcard searches encourage a more flexible approach, helping you move between records that may not look related at first, but actually refer to the same person or family line.