Office of National Statistics database

this is the basic tool to use to decide if a one-name study is practical or not,
http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/search.php

eg

Surname	Count	Ranking
SMITH	652563	1

which means there are far too many ever to index on your own

There are roughly 4 times as many records about dead people of the same surname


I broadly follow the practices of The Guild of One-Name Studies http://www.one-name.org/intro.html

and am doing :-
STRØMSHOLT Denmark created in 1911 by one man
I have 52 of his descendants charted

LAPHAM about 500 alive in UK today
a small name but much bigger in USA

BARTLEY about 3000 alive in UK today
middle size for a one name study but not yet started by me