How can I proceed if I'm the only person with my last name?

Question

It has dawned on my that I'm the only person bearing the surname name Valby-Youngs on the whole planet. Valby is Danish and there is a suburb of Copenhagen carrying that name, and Young is one of the original Scottish clans, currently armigerous since "the roller-skate incident" of 1988. I have reached out to both Lord Lyon and the Danish authorities as I'm able, but they do not respond to me. I would ask my immediate family, but they do not communicate with me, certainly not about our family heritage, which has always been a taboo subject.

I feel that being bestowed an entirely unique name also carries some responsibility to the past, and I would like to begin my journey towards knowing my genealogy. Any suggestions? Clan Young is extremely vast; the plural Youngs family quite a bit smaller although distinctly related. Valby is a guarded name for hefty reasons I won't divulge immediately.

I never had much use for notions of identity, but as I desperately try to survive, I feel that a family background would improve morale, at least.

Answer 1

That's kind of cool, if true. We are all a tapestry of many different surnames, unfortunately the societies we live in usually make us pick one over the others. So, knowing that your identity does not *have* to be bound to one name (or hyphenated name), you can simply explore what the evidence shows you.

example from my own history: surname is Crawford, which is of Scottish origin. I always thought as a kid that we should be wearing the tartan, learning more about Highland Games, etc. Turns out, the kilt was revived in the 1700s as a cultural touchstone, by which time my family was already in Pennsylvania. So, none of them probably ever wore one. Also, we aren't a highland clan.

Family legend said we were part Native American also, but we aren't. European as far as the eye can see.

Enter your parents and their parents, look for census and Birth/Marriage/Death certificates starting a couple generations back (usually recent stuff isn't released to the public) and start discovering things. Then make up your own mind about who you are, and realize that your family history can enhance that, but doesn't have to limit it.

Answer 2

There are plenty of people with a unique surname. Go ahead and create it.  You will get an error message asking if it is correct which you hit the ignore button with the excuse that it has been verified as spelled correctly.  When you add parents, you will need to change the surname and that is ok and done plenty of times.

Welcome to the site!

Answer 3

I would start by creating your profile on the free site Familysearch. The site suggests sources. If you did not appear in the 1940 Census, then second step is to add your parents, or someone who appear in the 1940 and earlier censuses.  From there, you will start to connect to the One tree.  

You can use DNA, as well.