abt
About. Used to indicate an approximate or unsure date, such as “abt 15 Jun 1776”. May also be used to indicate a partial date, such as “about June 1799”.
adm
Administration or Administrator.
admin
See: adm
AFN
Ancestral File Number. The AFN identifies a person described in the Ancestral File system maintained by the LDS.
aft
after — used to indicate a date "after" a specific date. i.e., aft 1776
aka
also known as — alias or another name the person used.
b
born — used to indicate when and/or where a person was born.
B
Black — indicates race. The person’s ancestors came from Africa.
bapt.
baptism, baptized.
bef
before — used to indicate a date "before" a specific date. i.e., bef 1776
bet
between — used to indicate a date between a starting and ending period. i.e., bet 1776 and 1777
bp.
See bapt.
bpt.
See bapt.
bro
brother.
brd
boarder — someone who rents a room from the household.
bu.
See buried.
bur
buried — used to indicate when and/or where a person was buried.
c
circa — used to indicate an approximate or unsure date or period. See Also: abt.
ca
circa — See Also: c or abt.
cem.
cemetery.
cert.
certificate — as in birth certificate, death certificate or any other officially certified document.
ch
child, children.
chr.
christened. See bapt.
d
died — used to indicate when and/or where a person died. The location may not be where the person was living when he or she died.
dau.
daughter.
dec.
deceased.
dil or D-I-L
daughter-in-law.
div
divorced.
dt
daughter.
dv
divorced.
d/o
daughter of.
exec
executor.
exor
executor.
exox
executrix.
fam.
family.
fil or F-I-L
father-in-law.
FGS
Family Group Sheet
frm.
from — used in dates.
gd g
randdaughter.
gdn
guardian.
gs
grandson.
h
husband.
hh
hired hand — usually a laborer who is not related to anyone in the household; seen in the census.
hon
honorable
husb
husband
h/o
husband of
IDC
Immigrant Descent Code — refers to the practice of assigning a code indicator to the immigrant ancestor and adding a number to indicate the number of generations from the immigrant. For example, three brothers (John, Joseph, and Samuel) immigrated; each would be assigned a separate code… say JN (John), JS (Joseph), and S (Samuel). Therefore, John would be JN1, Joseph would be JS1, and Samuel would be S1. All of their descendants would then be assigned an IDC based on the immigrant ancestor’s code. John’s children would be JN2, Joseph’s children would be JS2, and Samuel’s children would be S2. While this system doesn’t identify individuals within a generation it is used by some organizations. These systems usually only code the male line.
IDN
Immigrant Descent Number — refers to the practice of adding a number to the name of each person in a descent from the immigrant ancestor. For example, if John was the immigrant his IDN would be John-1. His son Samuel would be Samuel-2. John’s grandson, Edward, would be Edward-3 where the number indicates the number of generations from the immigrant ancestor. Now, ancestors of the immigrant also have an IDN but use letters instead; for example, John’s father Jacob would be Jacob-A and his grandfather Joseph would be Joseph-B, etc. The benefit of this system is that a person’s lineage can be clearly shown (e.g., John-1, Samuel-2, Edward-3, Susan-4). These systems usually only code individuals with the same surname.
inhab
inhabitant, inhabited.
inst
instant (this month).
lic
license.
ltd
limited.
m
married — used to indicate when, where and/or to whom the person married.
mbr
member
md
married.
mil or M-I-L
mother-in-law — as seen in the census. Could also indicate military service, depends on context.
MH
meeting house — a Quaker term.
mo
month.
N. S.
New Style calendar — Gregorian Calendar
ob.
obit, deceased.
obit.
obituary.
O. S.
Old Style calendar — Julian Calendar.
p
partner — as seen in census.
QM
quarterly meeting — a Quaker term.
rec
received.
rec’d
received.
rem
removed.
s
son.
sil or S-I-L
son-in-law
ss
step-son
SSDI
Social Security Death Index — the index of people who died with an active claim of the US Social Security System.

SSN Social Security Number — a public pension system in the United States.

s/o
son of
UCN
Unique Code Number.
w
wife
w/o
wife of
YM
yearly meeting — a Quaker term.