"Soundex" Generator

Enter the surname to generate "Soundex" Key:

The "Soundex" Key is:

The "Soundex" coding system was developed for researching federal census records (1880 - 1920) to enhance the likelihood of a researcher successfully finding a surname that may have been recorded under different spellings. If you use the "Soundex" code of a surname, you will enhance your chances of actually finding the surname in the census records of the United States.

The "Soundex" system is basically a coded surname index based upon the way a name sounds, rather than the way it is spelled. Surnames that sound the same, but are spelled differently, like Johnsen, Johnson, Jonsen, Jonson, Jonnsen, and Jonssen, for example, have the same "Soundex" code, and are listed together.

"Soundex" codes begin with the first letter of the surname followed by a three-digit code that represents the first three remaining consonants.

The letters A, E, I, O, U, Y, H, and W are not coded.

Be aware that surname prefixes, such as d', de, dela, di, du, van, von, and others were sometimes disregarded by workers recording surnames using the "Soundex" coding system.