How to Use the Google Wildcard Operators in Ancestry Research

How to use Google Wildcard operators in ancestry research to discover new family details.

When I first started writing Google search queries for my ancestor and historical research, I would start by entering my ancestor’s name with the impression/hope that Google would provide me a list of all the pages containing relevant information. I have since learned that searching the Web is a skill that can be learned, and with a bit of practice, you can find the information you seek.

Google Wildcard Operators for Ancestry Research
Table of Contents

(*) Asterisk Wildcard
(?) Question Mark Wildcard
- Alternate spellings of a name
- Search for variant spellings
(_) Underscore Google Suggest Wildcard
Other Google Articles for Ancestry Research

I spent a good month searching testing and developing search queries in real-time to aid me with the research I was then performing. one of my early search successes was being able to discover ancestor information with the Google Wildcard operator. This article is part of 4 article series that includes:

Table of Contents

What is the Google Wildcard operator?

The wildcard is a single character (such as an asterisk or question mark) used to represent a set of pre-defined characters or words. Google categorizes these characters as operators because the asterisk and period have certain functions. Essentially, it’s important to recognize the difference between both operators and how to use them

Many website search engines have incorporated the use of the asterisk (*) and the question mark (?) for queries known as wildcards. This section will review three very helpful wildcards and their use. They include

(*) Asterisk Wildcard
(?) Question Mark Wildcard
(_) Underscore Google Suggest Wildcard

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(*) Asterisk Wildcard

Google treats the (*) asterisk wildcard as a placeholder for one or more words or letters. The Google search query can be written with the variations:

(partial word)*
“(Text) * (Text)”
“(Text) * (Text) * (Text)”
“* (Text)”

Find missing letters

You can use the asterisk to find missing letters of a root word or name (also known as truncation.) When you use the asterisk at the end of at least three letters (correct: john* incorrect: jo*), it will usually represent from 0 to 6 characters.

Using the asterisk for truncation, also called stemming, is a technique that helps to broaden a search in various word endings and spellings.

educat* (returns educate, educated, education, or educational)
child* (returns child, childs, children, childrens, or childhood)
genetic* (returns genetic, genetics, or genetically)

Try using the asterisk with names. I find this especially helpful when searching for Scandinavian names. For example:

John* (Returns “John,” “Johnson,” “Johnsen,” “Johnathon,” or “Johns”)

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Search for middle names/initials

For genealogy searches, the asterisk (*) is one way to search for a name that has a middle name or initial. An example of one query using the asterisk is “ora * jones.” This search sting returns pages containing Ora Jones separated by one or more words:

Ora W. Jones
Ora W Jones
Ora William Jones
Ora; Murphy, Jones
Ora Lee Jones
Ora G. Jones
Note. It will not return results for Ora Jones with any middle name or initial. To search for web pages containing his name with a middle name or initial and his name with no middle name or initial, use this query:
“Ora * Jones” OR “Ora Jones”

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Find a missing word in a phrase

You can find a missing word in a phase by subtitling an asterisk. For example, if you have a favorite quote and you can’t remember all the words, try using an asterisk to find the actual quote.

“a penny * is a penny earned”
“actions speak louder than *”

Try searching for variations of common phrases:

“a penny for your *”
“don’t put all your * in one basket”
“to be or * to be *”

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Using more than one asterisk

You can use as many asterisks in a search phrase as you desire. Enter your phrase in a search query, put quotations around the phase and enter an asterisk in the places where you don’t remember the words. Sample queries follow:

“how will our children * they are if they do not * came from”

There was one time when I had a partial paragraph from a history of an ancestor, and I wanted to try and see if I could find the whole history. Since Google only accepts 32 words in a query, I used the asterisk in multiple places to shorten the search. When I ran the search, I was able to find the entire history. I have used a portion of the Gettysburg Address as an example of how to search for a sentence/paragraph using the asterisk.

“four score and * our fathers brought forth on * a new nation, conceived in liberty, and * that all men are * equal”

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Search for missing text strings

Searching for “payson *ut” produces results with any number of missing words, including the following:

Lehi, UT
Lehi, Utah, UT
Lehi, UT Co., UT
Lehi, Utah County, UT

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(?) Question Mark Wildcard

A (?) question mark wildcard represents a single letter. It’s most beneficial when there are variable spellings for a word, and you want to search for all variants at once. The Google search query can be written as follows:

(wo?d)

Alternate spellings of a name

In genealogy, it’s not uncommon to find transcription errors on familiar names. I have found this most common when there have been transcriptions of the lower case letters such as “a”, “o,” and “i.” In order to find the alternate spellings, simply replace the letter in question with a question mark. For example,

Sm?th (returns Smith, Smyth, Smoth, Smath)
B?ll (returns Ball, Bell, Bill)
wom?n (returns woman and women)

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Search for variant spellings

The same word can have different spellings in the same language. For example the American word “color” is spelled “colour” in the United Kingdom. You can use either the question mark or the asterisk:

colo?r (returns colour)
col*r (returns colour)
favo?rite (returns favourite)
fav*rite (returns favourite)

Using two or more question marks
If you include two or more question marks together in your search term, the system makes substitutions based on the number of question marks you included consecutively in your search term.

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(_) Underscore Google Suggest Wildcard

When you are typing in a search query but are not sure of the exact phrase to use, let Google suggest for you by using the (_) underscore. The Google search query can be written as follows:

(Text)_(Text)

Here is how it works. Google offers suggestions (auto-populates) to complete the phrase when you start typing a search query. (You do not enter an underscore at the end of this type of search query.) For example, if I were to enter in my Google search (Best Utah…), Google would suggest ideas that finish the query after the words “best Utah” such as:

Best Arkansas hikes
Best Arkansas restaurants
Best Arkansas parks
Best Arkansas homes
Best Arkansas companies

Google supports these suggestions on actual content that exists on the web and is doing its best to connect you to content you might be looking for.

But what if you wanted suggestions for terms that come between words of a phrase? You can use the (_) underscore wildcard within the search query, and Google will make suggestions to fill in the blank. The search query would look like this

best_in Arkansas

Note that there are no spaces on either side of the underscore. With the search “best_in Arkansas,” Google will fill in suggestions where the underscore is placed. The query would return Google suggestions such as:

Best in Arkansas
Best schools in Arkansas
Best jobs in Arkansas
Best camping in Arkansas
Best burger in Arkansas
Best parks in Arkansas
Best hikes in Arkansas

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How to Use the Google Wildcard Operators in Ancestry Research