What Do City Directory Abbreviations Mean? Find out!

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. The products that I advertise are the ones I believe in.

Have you ever looked at a City Directory, seen an “r” or an “h” and just assumed it meant ‘rented’ or ‘home?’ Well they don’t! You are missing out on a great deal of genealogical information if you do not understand what lies beneath City Directory Abbreviations and their meanings.

Before you begin, if you need a refresher course on the best practices of genealogical research or want to up your research game, consult my “Ultimate Beginners Guide to Responsible Genealogy Research Online.”

A city directory is a type of publication that lists the names, occupations, and addresses of residents in a particular city or town. These directories can be a valuable resource for genealogists, as they can provide information about ancestors’ whereabouts and occupations. Some other terms related to city directories and genealogy include:

Census records: Official government records that document the population of a particular area.
Voter registration records: Lists of people who are registered to vote in a particular election district.
Street directories: Lists of streets in a particular city or town, along with the names and addresses of residents and businesses on each street.
Business directories: Lists of businesses in a particular city or town, along with the names and addresses of their owners or managers.
Social registers: Lists of socially prominent individuals in a particular area, often including their addresses, occupations, and clubs or organizations they belong to.

City directories are a valuable resource for genealogists and historians, providing information about individuals and businesses in a particular city or town during a specific time period. However, city directories can be challenging to read, as they often use abbreviations, acronyms, and other shorthand that may not be immediately apparent to modern readers. Here are some examples of uncommon city directory abbreviations that researchers may encounter:

agt: agent
asst: assistant
btwn: between
dep’t: department
h: house
lab: laborer
mkr: maker
n/s: north side
opp: opposite
p/o: post office
rms: rooms
sec: secretary
supt: superintendent
w/s: west side

These abbreviations may have been used for a variety of reasons, including to save space in the directory or to make it easier for the typesetter to fit all the information onto a single page. Some abbreviations, such as “agt” and “supt,” are still in use today, while others, such as “mkr” and “lab,” are less common in modern language.

Researchers who are unfamiliar with city directory abbreviations can consult a guide or key to help decipher the meaning of these shorthand terms. Some libraries and archives may have resources available to help researchers navigate city directories, or online resources such as genealogy forums may offer advice and assistance. With patience and persistence, researchers can use city directories to uncover valuable information about the lives and times of their ancestors.

My best source of city directories hands down is Ancestry! They have so many and I have literally spent hours pouring through them finding the whereabouts of my ancestors on them. You don’t have to look too far, if you’re interested you can get a free 14-day trial on Ancestry by following that link!

Of course city directory abbreviations will vary across space and time so that a Connecticut directory from 1938 will necessarily be different from a Tennessee city directory from 1995. However, I’m going to use the New Haven, Connecticut City Directories as a baseline.

what-do-city-directory-abbreviations-mean1 — City Directory Abbreviations

You can find out what abbreviations mean in any city you are researching by simply searching Ancestry or Family Search. You can also consult state and county archives and agencies for help. The screenshots I am using are taken from Ancestry’s City Directory database. When you do find the city directory records you are looking for, use the INDEX at the beginning of the directory to point you to the PAGE where the abbreviations are listed – make sure you refer to the document page and not the indexed page, a common mistake.

what-do-city-directory-abbreviations-mean2 — City Directory Abbreviations Key

As you can see in this closeup, there are quite a few abbreviations, the most interesting and utilitarian of which are the “r” and “h” in the upper right-hand corner. It’s very tempting when trying to figure out where and how your ancestors lived, to assume these mean ‘rented’ and ‘home’ as they do on a Federal Census. However, these abbreviations are not coterminous.

In this case the “r” indicates that this person resides within the same domicile of another person who is the head of that household (“h”). In my experience these are usually family members of legal age, especially if they share the same last name. Examine the list below for types of information you might find on a city directory.

what-do-city-directory-abbreviations-mean4 — Abbreviations Key Closeup

The list of abbreviations in many city directories also include the occupation of each resident to the extent possible. Back in 1938 in New Haven, Connecticut this was considered public information. As a family historian I am so thankful for this because nowadays we are much more concerned with information privacy!

If you look at the record below without knowing what the “r” and “h” means, it might be easy for you to be misled by what looks like 2 entries for an Alexander Standish at the same address. However, knowing these abbreviations mean ‘resides’ and ‘head’ it becomes readily apparent that the first Alexander is the son of the second Alexander who married to Elizabeth, she would be the first Alexander’s mother. We can also conclude that this younger Alexander was working as a machine operator for an “S&Co” and therefore of an employable age.

Connecticut New Haven CD — City Directory New Haven, CT

What does REM mean? Another abbreviation that I’ve seen in my research which has helped me immeasurably is the term “rem” or ‘removed.’ This simply means that a person has moved away (i.e., removed themselves) from their previous residence. This has come in handy for tracking down mysterious ancestors.

There is so much information to be mined in what lies beneath city directory abbreviations. From the mundane “r” and “h” to occupations and marital statuses, to people who are no longer living in the city but whose names are still listed! As I’ve written in a previous article, tracking down and compiling city data over time for a single person can also reveal a lot about a family and its history.

Here are some common terms that are used in city directories:

Name: The name of the individual or business being listed. The name is typically listed in alphabetical order by last name.
Address: The street address of the individual or business. The address is usually listed by street name, house number, and sometimes apartment or room number.
Occupation: The individual’s job or profession. This information is often listed in abbreviated form, such as “clerk,” “merchant,” or “carpenter.”
Employer: The name of the individual’s employer, if applicable. This information is often listed in parentheses after the occupation.
Widow: A woman who is listed as a widow may have inherited her deceased husband’s property or business.
Boarding house: A boarding house is a residence where people pay to rent a room and receive meals.
City directory: The book or publication that contains the listings of individuals and businesses in a particular city or town.
Head of household: The person who is considered the head of the household. This is typically the person who is listed first in a household, such as a husband or father.
Street directory: A section of the city directory that lists the streets in a particular city or town, along with their addresses and any landmarks or notable features.
Trade directory: A section of the city directory that lists the businesses and organizations in a particular city or town, organized by industry or type of business.

By understanding these common terms, researchers can better navigate city directories and uncover valuable information about the people and places in a particular city or town.

For more on the subject, read my 10 Tips For Researching City Directories and Street Guides! It’s jam packed with information, graphics, and everything you need to master one of the most difficult aspects of modern genealogy research.

For more on the subject check out the Family History Foundation’s coverage on How To Read Old City Directories, it’s got “how to’s” and examples.