When did we stop inventing new surnames? [more inside]
posted by szechuan on Aug 20, 2009 - 41 answers

What should I do with personal family photos of Notable Historical Personage, my Chinese great-grandfather? [more inside]
posted by ms.codex on Aug 18, 2009 - 10 answers

Please recommend an attorney -- preferably one in the Los Angeles area -- for an unusual Italian citizenship by descent case. Looking for one with knowledge of complicated 20th Century treaties regarding the former Ottoman Empire, modern Turkey, Italy, and Greece, and experience dealing with a lack of some typical primary citizenship evidence. [more inside]
posted by Asparagirl on Jun 19, 2009 - 9 answers

with all this internet connectedness, I've met a few different people online (either through facebook, twitter or geni) who share my not-very-common last name, and we've tried to determine if we're related by relating some of the oldest relatives we know who share the surname, but usually we don't find any overlap. As a genealogical novice, what should my next steps be in trying to find out if we're actually distantly related or if some clerk at Ellis Island just liked to give a bunch of French/German immigrants the same last name? [more inside]
posted by jrishel on May 1, 2009 - 16 answers

My Father-in-law and wife are going to Edinburgh, Scotland this summer to try and locate his relatives. I thought I'd try to help by visiting geneaology forums and posting some information, but for the life of me I can't find a genealogy discussion forum that doesn't require a subscription. Is there such thing? [more inside]
posted by mecran01 on Mar 31, 2009 - 7 answers

GenealogyFilter: Looking for an application that represents lifespans down the vertical axis and allows durational events to span across the horizontal axis. And imports GEDCOM. Seen some old programs, and they look pretty Windows 3.0-y... Anything new under the sun? Web 2.0 stuff? I'm already using geni.com--I'd like to stretch the rectangles and slice with horizontal bars. [more inside]
posted by TigerMoth on Mar 25, 2009 - 2 answers

Help me understand emigration patterns of my ancestors. [more inside]
posted by chickaboo on Mar 9, 2009 - 15 answers

I've been sucked in by the hobby of genealogy. now what? [more inside]
posted by chickaboo on Feb 16, 2009 - 11 answers

How much should I offer someone in Hungary to photograph graves in a cemetery? I'm doing genealogical research and I need about a dozen graves photographed. I found someone willing to do it, and I don't want to either insult him or drive the price up.
posted by Joe in Australia on Sep 21, 2008 - 8 answers

What are the meanings of the surnames Seliukova and Bessadna? [more inside]
posted by mooreeasyvibe on Sep 8, 2008 - 5 answers

Today I had a reason to be looking up a family document, and once again I became fascinated looking at the old family certificates and documents I have in my files. [more inside]
posted by zadcat on Aug 22, 2008 - 15 answers

Wondering if anyone here has had a Genealogical DNA test for purposes of learning more about your distant (ie. not recent/paternity) ancestors. I have questions about the differences (price, service, thoroughness) of the various companies offering this service, the type of data that different tests can produce, and ways this data can be (constructively) interpreted. [more inside]
posted by cadastral on Apr 16, 2008 - 18 answers

How do I find family overseas? [more inside]
posted by kldickson on Apr 5, 2008 - 4 answers

Where can I find an affordable, thorough, genealogist to help me research my Irish ancestry? [more inside]
posted by pantufla on Mar 18, 2008 - 10 answers

Strategies for Research: I'd like to go through each of the US Presidents, and show my kids how they're related to each. George Washington was pretty easy, as his ancestry is detailed back to the Scottish kings, so I can show the kids how they're the 22nd cousins, 11 times removed of the first president of the US. The going hasn't been so easy, since, and I'm fishing for some suggestions on tactics I can take to make the going a little easier. [more inside]
posted by thanotopsis on Feb 28, 2008 - 5 answers

Where exactly did my ancestors disembark in New York when they arrived from Ireland? [more inside]
posted by pantufla on Dec 19, 2007 - 11 answers

What's the oldest believable continuous genealogy for a live person? [more inside]
posted by Flunkie on Oct 24, 2007 - 14 answers

If my maternal grandfather was my (alleged?) great-grandfather's biological son, why would his last name be different from both of his parents'? [more inside]
posted by dumbledore69 on Sep 25, 2007 - 11 answers

Which of the genealogical DNA testing companies is the best for testing Y-Chromosome information? Experiences?
posted by Atreides on Aug 12, 2007 - 1 answer

GenealogyFilter: I need a scanning strategy and general advice for family photos. [more inside]
posted by RavinDave on Aug 11, 2007 - 5 answers

I'm quite ignorant about religion in general, but: Why are Mormons so into genealogy? [more inside]
posted by Harry on Apr 27, 2007 - 19 answers

A friend has been contacted by a private investigator who represents a "successional" or "probate" genealogist in Europe. I was very suspicious, perhaps because of the amount of entertaining Nigerian spam I've received, but at first glance things seem relatively legitimate. Is this a common thing, and what steps do one take to deal with it? [more inside]
posted by lackutrol on Mar 22, 2007 - 5 answers

What blood relation am I to Madonna? [more inside]
posted by sjvilla79 on Feb 28, 2007 - 37 answers

Am I related to George Washington? I have a bet with my boyfriend but don't want to do the genealogical research myself. [more inside]
posted by amber_dale on Feb 11, 2007 - 14 answers

Going by the style of clothing, the age of the man, and the make/model of the bicycle can you help me date a picture? [more inside]
posted by bondcliff on Dec 19, 2006 - 28 answers

Hey, SCAdians and genealogists: how would I represent this logo in heraldic language? [more inside]
posted by rwhe on Sep 29, 2006 - 14 answers

Somewhat of a follow-up to a previous question about my grandfather, I have some vague questions about law enforcement and the mental health system in 1950s America. [more inside]
posted by bondcliff on Sep 26, 2006 - 12 answers

[Slovak? Filter]: What does 'neopusta' mean? [more inside]
posted by nightwood on Sep 14, 2006 - 18 answers

Freeware/Open Source Genealogical Software? [more inside]
posted by tiamat on Aug 16, 2006 - 12 answers

I need more places to look for family tree information. [more inside]
posted by thanotopsis on Aug 2, 2006 - 10 answers

Are people selling coats of arms over the internet making it up? [more inside]
posted by crypticgeek on Jun 27, 2006 - 15 answers

We dropped a photo on the floor, and the frame broke. Out fell two pictures: the one we knew about, and this one which was behind the original: [more inside]
posted by blue_wardrobe on Jun 11, 2006 - 15 answers

I'm looking for a free genealogy website - one where I can upload my GEDCOM file, reference various databases and the like. [more inside]
posted by rinkjustice on May 29, 2006 - 8 answers

I am looking for a free, easy to use, web site where people with my last name can have a discussion board, post photos to a gallery, as well as create some wiki-type pages... [more inside]
posted by pantufla on May 24, 2006 - 7 answers

Help me determine how much green blood runs through my veins. [more inside]
posted by WCityMike on Mar 17, 2006 - 24 answers

Is there any way to find out my grandfather's medical / criminal history when a) I know almost nothing about him and b) He's been dead since 1994? [more inside]
posted by bondcliff on Feb 1, 2006 - 12 answers

How would I track down the living descendants of a Brit who died forty years ago, from the US? [more inside]
posted by gottabefunky on Jan 4, 2006 - 3 answers

Help me preserve and share my grandmother's final writings. [more inside]
posted by aebaxter on Dec 9, 2005 - 9 answers

Hi, I am looking for the spelling of the surname of my great-grandfather. He lived in Opatija (Croatia) during most of the first forty years of the twentieth century. The town was called Abbazia then, reflecting the Italian influence at the time. Surnames were also Italianised; his became Simainski. I have seen variations such as Szimanski, Simanszki and various "y"s instead of "i"s. Since most archives seem lost in Opatija, I was wondering if somebody can point me to sources where I can find out more. Thanks! Marco
posted by mbotta on Nov 8, 2005 - 10 answers

I'm interested in tracing my family tree. I've toyed around on genealogy.com before, but the sheer volume of information is staggering... and a bit off-putting for a novice like me. Is there a good, reputable, online service that will wade through the garbage and provide you with a well-researched analysis of your lineage? [more inside]
posted by bjork24 on Oct 31, 2005 - 11 answers

During the 2004 election, I'm sure we all heard that George W. Bush and John Kerry were related. But given any two people of similar backgrounds, what are the chances that they are related? [more inside]
posted by clearlynuts on Jul 25, 2005 - 9 answers

I've been asked by my library's genealogy department to make copies of documents that are too delicate and/or unwieldy to place on top of a copy machine or scanner... [more inside]
posted by mcsweetie on Jul 16, 2005 - 12 answers

I'm looking for free, online, collaborative genealogy software. [more inside]
posted by mkultra on Jul 12, 2005 - 5 answers

I could use some help and ideas for naming my personal genealogy website. [more inside]
posted by LadyBonita on Jun 19, 2005 - 6 answers

I am an adoptee, and this AskMe post motivated me to ask- to any of you who are A) adopted and searching, or B) adopted and have found Bparents or siblings or C) have anecdotes on how friends have found parents or siblings.... How did You/They eventually find their kin?
I am all over message boards, registries, etc. I'm looking for other options. Any input appreciated.
posted by exlotuseater on Dec 13, 2004 - 19 answers

I'm interested in finding out about my father's side of my family, who is originally from Denmark. Unfortunately, I don't have much contact with that side of the family, so I have no one to ask. Can someone point me in the right direction of a resource that may help?
posted by jackofsaxons on Nov 26, 2004 - 3 answers

FamilyTreeFilter: I want to start tracking my family tree. I would like to go back as far as I can, at least to the first ancestors to come to the US. I've found that there are a lot of computer programs for this. Does anyone have any recommendations on software for this? Also, any helpful websites/books/etc?
posted by MrAnonymous on Nov 3, 2004 - 7 answers

Give my parents some recommendations for autobiography/memoir/family history software. [mi] [more inside]
posted by gluechunk on Apr 23, 2004 - 1 answer

Is there a free/cheap family-tree program (for the PC) that outputs in ascii text (with dashes, pipe-symbols, etc. as the connectors between people) or HTML format?
posted by grumblebee on Feb 9, 2004 - 1 answer