
The Guild of One-Name Studies has reached another membership milestone. (5th January 2016)
In 2015 the Guild of One-Name Studies broke all its previous memberships records by recruiting some 418 new members with a further 15 previous Guild members re-joining the Guild during the year. A total of 433 new members. This milestone follows a very successful year for the Guild of One-Name Studies in 2015 when the Guild achieved its highest membership ever – some 2,847 members.
Since the 1st January 2015 some 418 members joined the Guild of One-Name Studies, 233 were from the UK, 90 from the US, 14 from New Zealand, 43 from Australia, 16 from Canada and 9 from the Republic of Ireland. The remainder were from various other countries. 44% of the new members were from non-UK regions, which is a valuable step towards increased worldwide membership for the Guild. There were also 15 returning members: 9 from the UK, 3 from the US, 1 from Australia and 2 from Canada. The Guild now has 2,847 members spread across the world, studying over 8,700 individual surnames.
The continued increase in the Guild’s membership every year since the Guild was founded in 1979 (an achievement not many Family History organisations have managed) is a testament to the popularity of the Guild and the benefits it offers to its members – as the following table shows:
New members per month:
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Average
2015
27 22 44 95 29 29 28 24 37 29 22 32 418 34.8
2014 34 64 14 15 10 21 11 15 21 21 27 30 283 23.6
2013 17 53 25 24 12 9 19 18 27 20 15 6 245 20.4
Details of all the Guild facilities can be found at:
To find out more about undertaking a One-Name Study or the benefits of joining the Guild of One-Name Studies
Cliff Kemball, the Guild’s Publicity Officer, said
"This is yet another significant milestone for the Guild of One-Name Studies and is a testament to the continued development of the Guild internationally and the benefits membership provides. We hope that this trend continues into 2016 and beyond and reaffirms the Guild as the world’s leading organisation for One-Name Studies.”