With onsite agents in countries all over the globe, we can help you with your European genealogy research,
Immigration & European Genealogy Research
Did you know that over ½ the people living in the United States today are descended from European ancestors? For a large quantity of people today, no matter what continent you currently live on, there is a good chance that if you trace your family lines back far enough, at least one of them will have originated from somewhere in Europe. The problem is – Europe is a BIG place, and geographical boundaries have shifted many, many times over the course of history, and still continue to do so today.
Using Records to Trace European Ancestry
Europe can be divided into 5 main regions including The British Isles, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean (or Southern) Europe, and Scandinavia (or Northern Europe). Often when people contact us they have at least a general idea of what part of Europe their ancestors came from, but they don’t have a specific town or city. This is where our “start-with-what-you-know” philosophy comes in. In order to conduct European genealogy research, you’re going to have to know specifically where your family came from, and under whose jurisdiction that place was at the time they lived there. This often means searching a LOT of more modern records to find the name of that hometown. If you’ve found every available source about your direct ancestor and still haven’t had any luck, then it might be time to search for all available records about their siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. until you find what you are looking for. This can be frustrating, but it’s so worth it when you are eventually able to circle back around and extend your family lines!
Our Team of Professional Genealogists Can Help
Often European genealogy records are only available onsite in the various churches, archives, and libraries in the towns and cities where they were created. If you love to travel and speak/read a lot of different languages, this might be okay for you! But if you’re like most people and don’t have the ability to dig out records from various repositories all over the world, we would love to help you! Our onsite agents can go to those places for you and find the records you need. No matter what stage your research is at right now – whether you already know the hometown of your European ancestors or don’t even know if they came from Europe or somewhere else – we can help!
