Top 10 Genealogy and Family History Articles of 2023

We’ve compiled a list of our best genealogy and family history articles for the entire year of 2023 based on your interests and needs. Every week, one of our professional genealogists writes an article to help you navigate your family history research and get through any brick walls. From DNA to dual citizenship to regional specialties, our genealogy articles cover every nook and cranny! Here are the most popular articles of 2023!

10. How DNA Can Transform African-American Family History Research

Are you interested in learning more about your African-American heritage? Advancements in African- American DNA testing may provide answers when historical records don’t exist.

The field of African-American genealogy is wrought with challenges. Beyond the emotional difficulty of the subject matter–dealing with records which describe the captivity and subjugation of human beings–African-American genealogical research is also difficult because records are scarce. 

To learn more about the advancements in African-American DNA testing and how it can help you with your family history research, read the full article here. 

9. Six Signs of Misattributed Parentage In Your Family Tree

While DNA testing and genetic evidence are certainly useful for breaking down challenging historic brick walls, the implications of DNA testing can also hit closer to home in the modern era when it comes to research on misattributed parentage.

In cases of adoption, unknown parentage or misattributed parentage, genetic genealogy methodologies enable identification of close biological ancestors whose identities might otherwise remain unknown, and which represent immediate brick walls for any genealogist dealing with such a scenario in their immediate family tree. 

To read more about common signs of misattributed parentage, you can read the full article here. 

8. 3 Essential Websites For German Family History Research

If you have German ancestors in your family tree, or if you have worked on German family history research for anyone else, you may have noticed that Germany is a country that doesn’t include national indexes to their records. In order to conduct research for your German ancestors you need to know the specific town or city where your family lived as well as the parish they attended. Since parish churches could cover several nearby towns, the parish where your ancestors’ records are located might be different from where they actually lived.

To find out which websites can help you navigate the challenges of German family history research, read the full article here. 

7. How To Join the Mayflower Society

Would you like to join the Mayflower Society? In this article, we walk you through the steps to prove your Pilgrim ancestry.

Proving your connection to a Mayflower passenger can be challenging. Tracing your ancestry four hundred years in time can mean 20 or more generations must be researched with documentation verifying the birth, marriage, and death of each individual. The steps outlined below will assist you in your quest to become a member of the Mayflower Society. As an added bonus, we discuss two unique tools to use in the process. 

Read the full article to find out what you need to do to become a Mayflower Society member!

6. How To Get Irish Dual Citizenship With or Without Irish Ancestry

Did you know that you can become an Irish citizen if one of your grandparents was born in Ireland? Or that you can become an Irish citizen if one of your parents was an Irish citizen at the time of your birth but was not born in Ireland? 

Several websites have information about eligibility requirements and the process for applying for dual citizenship if you’re currently a citizen or living in Ireland. Read the full article to learn more about how to apply for Irish dual citizenship. 

5. Using AI For Genealogical Research

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) for genealogy research is still in its infancy but gaining momentum as each new tool is released, including ChatGPT and Google Translate. These tools do not replace the need for a professional genealogist to analyze the data but can speed up the research process by finding information more rapidly. 

We asked our research team how genealogists can apply AI to their genealogy research projects. Read the full article for their key learnings and cautions. 

4. Researching Cherokee Ancestry

As genealogists, we’re often asked to research the likelihood and details of a client’s Native American heritage. The Cherokee are currently the largest federally-recognized indigenous tribe in the United States. Although they originally lived in the Southeastern United States, they were among the people forcibly relocated by the policies of President Andrew Jackson in the 1830s via the Trail of Tears.

Today, many of their descendants are headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. They were known as one of the “Five Civilized Tribes,” and were known to be closely interacted and assimilated with the settlers of their areas. They even started become U.S. citizens as early as the 1810s and 1820s.

To learn more about researching your Cherokee heritage, read the full article here. 

3. How Much Does It Cost To Hire a Genealogist?

Genealogy research has its ups and downs as you work devotedly to fill out your family tree with accuracy and confidence. It’s incredibly rewarding when you are able to easily locate documents and piece together DNA results on your own. However, it can be surprisingly overwhelming and isolating when you hit a brick wall or aren’t quite sure if other family members working on your tree have validated all of their results.

Depending on your needs and goals, working with a professional genealogist can save you months, even years, of frustration. Find out about the cost and value of working with a professional genealogist in this article. 

2. How Do I Determine Genetically Equivalent Relationships?

An understanding of genealogical relationships is necessary before diving into genetically equivalent relationships in your family history. This article will provide an overview of both concepts. Correctly evaluating shared DNA within the context of genetically equivalent relationships first requires mastery of genealogical relationships. This article reviews important genealogical relationships based on some of the pertinent variables. 

1. When Your Relative Does Not Appear As a DNA Match

Genealogy can be fun and rewarding, but it can also be frustrating, even devastating, when you encounter problems that don’t seem to make sense. What do you do if your family member’s DNA doesn’t seem to match your own? In this article, Adrienne Abiodun explains how you can solve this all-too-common problem. 

It’s been a great year here at Legacy Tree Genealogists! Thank you for all of your support and comments. If you’d like to receive updates about new blog posts, sign up here!