Hello, and welcome to the home of one of the largest searchable databases of Potts surnamed individuals in the world, 27,173 of them, who lived in the 16th to early 20th centuries in many different countries. Also included in the database content are the 13,577 spouses of the married individuals for a grand total of 40,750 persons. Note: In order to overcome possible errors in spelling in old documents and records, and in order to include surname variations which later became Potts, some surnames such as Batz, Bott, Paç, Paetz, Patts, Patz, Pautz, Pitts, Pot, Pott, Potte, Pottes, Potz, Pottz, Putt, Putts, etc., are also included, but no effort was made to make the inclusions exhaustive. The total number of individuals in the database with these name variations is less than 900.
When I began my family genealogy research in 1992 I soon discovered that there are and were a lot of Pottses in the world, and that there are many different Potts ancestral lines. To facilitate my own Potts research I decided to create a searchable database of Potts individuals who lived in the 16th - 19th centuries. Since that time I have gathered the major Potts-related publications, birth, death, and marriage information, land records, wills, military records, census information, and pedigrees from other researchers. I am still gathering information and adding it to the database, and new revisions of the database will be periodically posted on this and any other affiliated sites. Recently I expanded the entries to include persons who lived in the early 20th century as well. New information comes in all the time, both additions and corrections to the database material. While the bulk of the entries concern individuals who lived in North America (the American Colonies, the United States, and Canada), there is also a lot of information on Pottses who lived in countries such as the United Kingdom (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales), Germany, Prussia, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Barbados, Cuba, Australia, and New Zealand.
If you are ready to search the Potts Surname Database for your ancestor or whomever, click on the link in this sentence, or the Database Search button at the bottom of this page. You will be directed to the search data entry page. There are currently two search methods available: a site searching package called picosearch, and a limited Boolean type search avaiable at an alterenate site. The full capability Boolean search for this site is not finished yet. If you are going to use the alternate site search it would be quite helpful if you first print and carefully read the search instructions and the search hints. The success of your search will hinge on how closely you adhere to the instructions and hints. Improper searches may result in no "hits" at all, or literally hundreds of "hits." Therefore it is important to use good techniques when searching for common names like Mary, Ann, John, James, Samuel, William etc. Complicated searches may take awhile but the more you are able to narrow your search criteria (specify more information) the narrower and better the result will be. Be sure that you understand how to effectively use the search wildcard symbol, %. Caution: for a very few individuals you may find more than one record with his/her information. When I discovered significant conflicting information regarding an individual that I could not resolve, I created two separate entries for that individual. If you come across two of these perhaps you will be the researcher who will be able to resolve the conflicting information.
If you are unable to find your Potts ancestor in the database, and you would like me to help search for your ancestor or relative or other Potts family connection, you can contact me at Cy@PottsInfo.com. Just email me the information that you have, including all the specifics, e.g., full names, spouse's name(s), dates, places, siblings, etc., and I will search the database for connections. Please provide as much information as you can, including any available folklore. Sometimes the smallest bit of information leads to a "hit". In the past 15 years I have done this free of charge for over 900 Potts researchers. When the search is complete I will advise you via email regarding the result. Sometimes the result is a large list of names and other related information. In this case I will either mail you a copy of the printed database search report and instructions on how to interpret the report, or I will email you the report in your choice of various software-compatible file formats, e.g., Excel, Quattro Pro, Access, Paradox, dBase, etc. All Inquiries are kept on file under the inquirer's name to facilitate repeat inquiries. I also keep a database of Potts research inquirers (which is now available for browsing at this site) so that I can: identify and notify those individuals researching the same Potts line, or update you regarding new information. In order to facilitate both I urge you to notify me if you change your email address.
Nearly a thousand Potts researchers have contacted me for help or information on their Potts ancestors. I have saved most of their names and their interests in a database. If you would like to search that list click here.
There are additional sources of POTTS surname information on the Internet which may aid your research efforts. The sources that I am aware of are listed on a separate POTTS Web Content page. I will try to update this list as time and opportunity permit. On the other hand, if you are aware of a site or resource which is not listed please let me know and I will add it to the present list.
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The Potts Surname Database
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