Where is the best place to discover your genealogy online? Everyone on earth seems to have an innate, yearning desire to deeply understand who they are and where they came from. One of the most exciting ways to dive into this is through genealogy. Learning about ancestors on both sides of the family, what areas of the world they lived in, and stories from their lives can give an indescribably profound sense of pride and self-worth to an individual.
Best Option
FamilySearch was first named "The Genealogical Society of Utah" and was founded to help members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints trace their family trees. The website now has users in 238 countries and over 5,700 locations worldwide.
No faith requirement
People can get in-person assistance from volunteers to help build their family tree - with no requirement to be a member of the faith. The FamilySearch website launched in 1999 and was initially garnering over 7 million hits per day. In 2011, FamilySearch debuted what has now become the largest genealogy and family history conference in the world, RootsTech.
Free for all users
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints continues to host FamilySearch as an international nonprofit organization that's free for everyone to use. The church believes that feelings of family connection can help people overcome the ups and downs of life. They aim to help people draw strength from their past, present, and future family relationships through continuing to fund this genealogy website.
Community trees
With your free account, you'll be able to see what's already been discovered about your family in a community tree that has over 12.19 billion searchable names. You can discover fascinating details about your ancestors by viewing photos and memories, a life sketch, information about parents and children, and more. If you find an ancestor that you have additional information about, you can contribute to their profile to continue growing your family tree.
Endless assistance
FamilySearch is committed to making sure that everyone who uses their site does so with confidence and excitement. If you have specific questions, you can always call FamilySearch or send them an email. You could also visit their nearest location and get guidance from a trained assistant to get started. Another resource offered by FamilySearch is a free 20-minute consultation that will strategize with you on the next steps you should take in your research journey. Users can also submit requests for specific records that may not be available online. Someone from the FamilySearch library can retrieve them and send them to you digitally or in print if needed.
Fun genealogical activities
There are some fun activities on the FamilySearch website that you should for sure take some time to play around with. They have information on surname origins that is really interesting, a "famous relatives" search that can tell you if you're related to everyone from the passengers on the Mayflower to President Obama, "compare-a-face" generator that shows you which relatives you look most like, and a "record my story" section where you can start to write your own personal history and include information about close relatives as well.
Well-liked by users
We were shocked to see that FamilySearch has an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau. However, the reason for this is their lack of response to 3 complaints about the service. There are no reviews on their BBB page and it doesn't seem like it's actively used enough to be a reliable gauge of whether or not you should give FamilySearch a shot. There have been millions of people who have benefited from this free service and you have nothing to lose by signing up. The only complaint we've really seen from users is that sometimes you have to double-check information since a lot of your family tree can be edited by others (similar to Wikipedia). There have been issues with people disagreeing on how a family lineage actually should be traced when it comes to adoptions, divorces, and other technical and complex personal details.
Incredible resource
Overall, FamilySearch is an incredible resource for everyone. To have as much easy-to-obtain information at your fingertips at no cost as can be found here is amazing. The layout of FamilySearch is clean and easy to understand. Having instant access to a trained genealogist is also an exceptional tool that will help you deep dive into your family history. We have given FamilySearch our strongest recommendation and our #1 ranking among genealogy websites.
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Everyone on earth seems to have an innate, yearning desire to deeply understand who they are and where they came from. One of the most exciting ways to dive into this is through genealogy. Learning about ancestors on both sides of the family, what areas of the world they lived in, and stories from their lives can give an indescribably profound sense of pride and self-worth to an individual.
Genealogy has become a fast growing hobby for people of all ages since it is easier than ever. No longer do you need to go to government agencies for vital documents or "cemetery hop" while trying to learn names and death dates of family members. It used to be a complex puzzle trying to trace your family lineage, but now there are incredible companies that have compiled billions of records and made it possible for people to easily create their own family tree.
Through genealogy websites you can not only learn the names of the people in your family tree, but you can usually see pictures of them and view any documents that are attached to their records. You could spend days pouring over journal entries, news articles, and contributions from other family members about an ancestor. To learn about the people who paved the way for your existence is remarkable and will likely teach you more about yourself than you can imagine.
These online genealogy platforms provide you with instant access to vast databases of historical records, DNA databases, and family trees from the comfort of your own home. This accessibility makes genealogical research much more feasible for people with varying levels of experience and resources.
Once you find an online platform that gives you all the resources you need to do your own genealogy, you'll understand why this pastime is so addicting for people. Incredible things have transpired for people who have looked for lost family members and been able to reconnect through genealogy work. All it takes through most companies is to set up an account and get started.
When deciding which online genealogy service to spend your time and energy with, take the following things into consideration:
Ready to research your genealogy? Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed and ranked the best places for you to get started on your personal family tree. We know this information will help you make life-changing discoveries that give you a deeper sense of who you are and an appreciation for those who came before you.
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