✦✦✦✦✦Sample review
I expected a generic print. Instead the panels told me things about the Hoffman name I had never heard, and they say where each fact comes from. It hangs in our hallway now.
Our signature piece · A surname investigation
The Surname Map
The history of your surname across America, drawn like the maps of the past.
- ✦Researched for your surname: not a template, an investigation
- ✦Built on verified archival sources: censuses, registers, passenger lists
- ✦Dated, signed and stamped by hand by our team
- Printed on archival, parchment-style paper
- Ships rolled in a sturdy tube, ready to frame
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Surnames to investigate
One map per surname. The more you order, the more you save.
How many maps?
1
The last surname has text in it. Tap “−” again to remove it.
1 map: full price · 2 maps: 15% off · 3 or more: 20% off
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30-Day Guarantee
Arrives in 5 business days
The map of your surname in the size you choose, printed on archival, parchment-style paper, then dated, signed and stamped by hand by our team. It ships rolled in a sturdy tube with a certificate of authenticity. The digital file arrives by email in high resolution, ready to print.
The map covers your surname: its origin, its meaning, where it is found across America and the route it took from the country it came from, all researched from verified archival sources. It doesn't trace your own family line. It tells the documented history of the name you carry, where every family story begins.
Printed maps ship in 5 business days, with tracking. Shipping is $14, and free on US orders over $79. The digital file arrives by email. Every piece comes with our 30-Day Guarantee.
Inside the map
Every corner of the map is a chapter of your investigation
Here's what we research when we open your surname's case file.
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I. The title banner
Your surname on the banner that names the map: where everything begins.
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II. By the numbers
How many Americans carry your name, and where they are concentrated: your surname in figures.
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III. Where it's found
Every state shaded by how common your name is: its American geography at a glance.
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IV. Famous names
Who carried your surname before you, and the mark they left.
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V. Home of the name
The place where your name is most at home, illustrated like an old engraving.
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VI. The route
A small map of the country your name came from, and the way it reached America.
I. The title banner
Your surname on the banner that names the map: where everything begins.
II. By the numbers
How many Americans carry your name, and where they are concentrated: your surname in figures.
III. Where it's found
Every state shaded by how common your name is: its American geography at a glance.
IV. Famous names
Who carried your surname before you, and the mark they left.
V. Home of the name
The place where your name is most at home, illustrated like an old engraving.
VI. The route
A small map of the country your name came from, and the way it reached America.
All of this, researched for the name you carry.
Made for your name
No two maps are alike
Every investigation starts from scratch: the same method, a different story every time. Compare two surnames for yourself.
| Hoffman Sample investigation | O'Brien Sample investigation | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | German: Hof and Mann, the man who ran a farm or served at a court | Irish: Ó Briain, “descendant of Brian,” after Brian Boru, High King of Ireland |
| By the numbers | About 125,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 245th most common US surname | Almost 116,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 261st most common US surname |
| Where it began | Central Germany | County Clare, in the west of Ireland |
| Home in America | Pennsylvania | [from the state table] |
| A famous name | E. T. A. Hoffmann, author of the tale behind The Nutcracker | [verified famous bearer] |
| The crossing | From Bremen and Hamburg to New York and Baltimore, 1840-1890 | From Irish ports to Boston and New York, during and after the Great Famine |
Hoffman
Sample investigation
O'Brien
Sample investigation
Origin
Hoffman
German: Hof and Mann, the man who ran a farm or served at a court
O'Brien
Irish: Ó Briain, “descendant of Brian,” after Brian Boru, High King of Ireland
By the numbers
Hoffman
About 125,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 245th most common US surname
O'Brien
Almost 116,000 people in the 2020 US Census, the 261st most common US surname
Where it began
Hoffman
Central Germany
O'Brien
County Clare, in the west of Ireland
Home in America
Hoffman
Pennsylvania
O'Brien
[from the state table]
A famous name
Hoffman
E. T. A. Hoffmann, author of the tale behind The Nutcracker
O'Brien
[verified famous bearer]
The crossing
Hoffman
From Bremen and Hamburg to New York and Baltimore, 1840-1890
O'Brien
From Irish ports to Boston and New York, during and after the Great Famine
Same method. Two stories that look nothing alike.
Two investigations, two maps
Our method
Five fields of research, one investigation
Every investigation follows the same method: different kinds of expertise, real archival sources.
01 Name origins
Where your name comes from and what it means.
02 Surname geography
Where a name is found points to where it began.
03 Old records and handwriting
Reading centuries-old documents and telling the real ones from the rest.
04 Heraldry
Coats of arms and titles, checked in the records. We tell you the answer either way.
05 Migration history
The path your name traveled, from its first home to the ships that carried it.
01 Name origins
Where your name comes from and what it means.
02 Surname geography
Where a name is found points to where it began.
03 Old records and handwriting
Reading centuries-old documents and telling the real ones from the rest.
04 Heraldry
Coats of arms and titles, checked in the records. We tell you the answer either way.
05 Migration history
The path your name traveled, from its first home to the ships that carried it.
Facts, theories, legends. Never mixed.
Every story we tell keeps three things apart: what the records prove, what the evidence suggests, and what families have passed down. That line is what makes our work reliable. When something can't be proven, we say so.
Our print shop
Your map is made here
Every piece is printed in the USA on archival paper with fade-resistant inks. [PRINT SHOP DETAILS] Our maps and case files aren't run off at a copy center. They're printed with care, one name at a time, because these pieces aren't made to be looked at once. They're made to be kept.
Before it ships, every map is checked, dated, signed and stamped by hand, then rolled into our tube with a certificate of authenticity.
More investigations
Complete your family's story
Each investigation lights up a different side of where you come from.
The Couple's Surname Map
Two surnames, two family histories, one map: where each name began and the roads that brought them together. A collector's piece, dated and signed by hand.
From $69
Create Your Map
The Surname Case File
A full investigation into your surname, numbered and filed like a real case: where the name comes from, how it traveled, what the heraldry records say and the leads still open. Facts, theories and legends, always kept apart.
From $35
Order Your Case File
Questions
Before you open your case
We open an investigation into the surname you give us: its origin, meaning, geography, home, famous names and route. Then the map is drawn, printed on archival paper, checked, dated, signed and stamped. Printed maps arrive in 5 business days, with tracking; the digital file arrives by email.
A rare name is easier to trace; a common one has more stories to tell. Either way, we tell you what the records show and where they stop.
We research the surname: its origins, geography and history. Your own family line takes records about your relatives, and the map and the case file show you where to find them.
Free sites give you a generic meaning, often copied from site to site. We research your surname from scratch, from real records, and we tell you when something is a theory or a legend.
Yes. Add a gift note at checkout, and we can ship directly to the person you're celebrating. Printed maps arrive in 5 business days, so we suggest ordering a little ahead of the day.
The 13 × 19 in print fits a desk or a shelf. The 20 × 28 in print is the classic wall size. The 28 × 39 in print is the large collector's size, made to be the centerpiece of a room. The digital file is the same map, sent by email for you to print.
We'll tell you exactly what the heraldry records say about your surname, whether the answer is yes or no. A coat of arms belongs to a specific family line, not to everyone with the same surname, so we never attach one without proof. Most families' history is found somewhere else: in the records of the lives they actually lived.
Every piece comes with our 30-Day Guarantee. [GUARANTEE TERMS]