Passenger Lists: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor's Ship
What U.S. arrival records contain in each era, how to find the right ship, and how to work backward to the hometown.
Immigration & Naturalization
Passenger lists, naturalization papers and the records that trace an immigrant back to the old country.
Naturalization Records: How Immigrants Became Citizens
How the two-step citizenship process worked, why 1906 is the dividing line, and where to find the papers that can name a hometown and ship.
Tracing Irish Ancestors: From America Back to the Townland
Most 19th-century Irish census records were destroyed, but Irish research is far from hopeless. How to find the place of origin, and the records that survive, many of them free.
Tracing German Ancestors: Finding the Village and Its Church Books
German research depends on finding the exact town. How to identify it from American records, locate it in a gazetteer, and search church books, civil records and town family books.
Was Our Name Changed at Ellis Island? Where Name Changes Really Happened
Many families believe an immigration inspector changed their surname. The records tell a different story. How names really changed, and how to find the original.
Mexican and Hispanic Ancestors: Parish and Civil Records
Mexican and Hispanic family history can often be traced back centuries in Catholic parish and civil records, many of them free. How names work, where the records are, and how to bridge the border.
Jewish Ancestors from Eastern Europe: Town Names, Border Changes and JewishGen
How to find your Jewish ancestors' town when maps and names have changed, and the records and research communities, from JewishGen to Yizkor books, that make Eastern European Jewish research possible.
Italian Ancestors: Civil Records, the Antenati Portal and Citizenship Records
Italian civil records are some of the best in the world, and many are free online. How to find your ancestor's comune, use the Antenati portal, read the records, and what to know about citizenship by descent.
Polish Ancestors: Partitions, Parish Records and Free Indexes
Poland didn't exist as a country for more than a century, so your ancestor may have been recorded as Russian, Prussian or Austrian. How to find the right parish, and the free indexes and archives that make Polish research possible.
Scandinavian Ancestors: Church Books, Farm Names and Patronymics
Norwegian, Swedish and Danish records are among the best in the world, and many are free online. How patronymic surnames and farm names work, and where to find church books, censuses and emigration records.
English and Scottish Ancestors: Civil Registration, Censuses and Parish Registers
British records are rich, well indexed and often free to search. How to use civil registration, the 1841–1921 censuses and parish registers in England, Wales and Scotland.
French-Canadian and Canadian Ancestors: Parish Registers, Censuses and "Dit" Names
French-Canadian families can often be traced to the 1600s through some of the best church records in North America. How to use Quebec's parish registers, Canadian censuses and the tools built for this research.
Find the records
Websites and archives for this topic are in our Resource Directory under Immigration & Naturalization.
Other topics
Getting Started 21Census Records 16Birth, Marriage & Death Records 15Church Records 12Cemeteries & Burials 2Newspapers & Obituaries 3Land & Property Records 7Wills, Probate & Court Records 13Tax Records 3Military Records 5Immigration & Naturalization 12DNA & Genetic Genealogy 9Libraries & Archives 8Research in the Old Country 10African American Research 2Research Methods & Evidence 31Brick Walls 11Organizing Your Research 7Online Sites & Family Trees 11