Top Genealogy Websites To Find Ancestors
We are fascinated by the origin of things, more importantly so, our own. In every single one of us is that quintessential need to know where we came from, who our parents were. With the advent of Online databases for ancestry, it can be intimidating for someone who just started navigating that aspect of human life, to know where to start the search or find the perfect place (website) to pay more attention to than the rest.
This compilation chronicles the top 10 best genealogy websites. It is worth noting that these sites are collected keeping relevancy in mind. We will consider things such as Traffic, pricing scheme, and compare some important features such as custom local search and more.
1. About.com
Price: Free
Traffic: High
About.com is one of the oldest Online encyclopediae. It covers a vast range of fields from personal hygiene to complex IT concepts. It contains thousands of how-to articles on basics of research, online searching, comparing and contrasting of results, about preserving the past. One’s past.
Pros
– It is free to use
– It is incredibly extensive
– It ranks among the top websites on the web (C
urrently 317th worldwide)
Cons
– It is very easy to lose track of what you’ve read because it’s so extensive and interlinked
– It is not Ancestry specific, though it covers an extensive base of the subject
– Since data is safe, sharing it online is not possible for free access
2. Ancestry.com
Price: $14.99 – $29.99
Traffic: High
Ancestry.com is one of the most specific websites for online ancestry research. This is mainly due to its localized variants such as Ancestry.ca for Canada, ancestry.co.uk for the United Kingdom and more. It claims to have up to 16 Billion records globally, including Military, parishes and churches, passage list, immigration, photos and much more! It is currently the most widely used subscription genealogy website online.
Pros
– Incredibly extensive
– Very popular worldwide
– Local variants of the main site (easy navigation)
– Provides customized search
– Provides family tree functionality (search, interlinking,..)
Cons
– It is not free. Depending on who you ask, the fees are high
– Since it is subscription based, access is not
3. AfriGeneas
Price: Free
Traffic: High
Afrigeneas is the top education and resource database for anyone searching for African-American roots. It has a unique opportunity for users to communicate with one another. It boasts a remarkably extensive database on marriage, death, surnames slave data and much more.
Pros
– It is relatively large enough to have a lot of information
– Very accurate in the information it stores and shares
– It is specific to a group of people, which increases the level of accuracy.
– It is free for everyone and anyone to access.
Cons
– Since it intends toward a group of individuals, it automatically bypasses anyone else not in that group.
4. Archives.com
Price: $9.99 / Month
Traffic: Medium
Just like ancestry.com, archives.com is not free. However, it has a sizable amount of information mainly for the United States of America. It gives access primarily to the US censuses, vital records and the old newspapers in the United States, and some in the UK. In the Help Center, you can find answers to questions about searches and account information.
Pros
– More affordable than Ancestry.com
– It has a huge database of resources and direct records
– Popular worldwide
Cons
– It is still not free. Many who could use it, still cannot manage due to the fees.
– It is the only US and UK specific, leaving more than half of the rest of the world out!
– It does not have as much traffic as the previous three (Only 16,318th worldwide as of the writing of this article)
5. Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
Price: FREE
Traffic: medium
This is one of the most interesting tools as the records are created on a county basis. Many genealogical records are created by counties, even though the boundaries may have changed over time. You can view records on a per state basis, an interactive map or choose the time slots that best meet your requirements.
Pros
– Free to access
– A much better taxonomy than most other online tools, based on location primarily
– You can view an interactive map as needed
– You can search by date
Cons
– It limited in scope, ergo, it leaves a big chunk of the Internet out
– Jurisdiction boundaries change, providing a reason for concern for the accuracy of the information passed along.
6. BillionGraves.com
Price: FREE
Traffic: medium
In the era of the GPS, why not create a database of tombstone images? Billions Graves does exactly that. You also can upload tombstone photos with a free iPhone-Android camera app.
Pros
– Free to access
– It is interactive and allows everyone to participate!
Cons
– It is limited in scope, ergo, it leaves a big chunk of the Internet out
– Not a popular topic exactly!
7. Chronicling America
Price: FREE
Traffic: medium
This is the Library of Congress’ portal to historical newspapers. It has digitized newspaper pages (1836-1922) from 25 states and Washington, DC, and an index to all known newspapers published in the United States and where to find them today. It includes new content regularly and grows very fast as you can imagine.
Pros
– Free to access
– New content daily
Cons
– It is not ancestry-specific
– The amount of research required to make sense of the data is relatively much more than a simple regular website.
8. Cyndi’s List
Price: FREE
Traffic: medium
This is an online directory of sites for genealogy. Cyndi Howells’ site lists websites dedicated to researching in particular places, types of records, and religious groupthink, and more. It is a great research tool especially for newcomers on the genealogy
9. FamilySearch.org
Price: FREE
Traffic: Low
This is one of the best free online resources available today.
– Free to access
– New content daily
– Worldwide reach
Cons
– Some of the information cannot be taken as the Gospel as one would imagine with an online catalog
– It allows you to create your family tree
– Allows Online sharing of created content
10. FamilyTreeMagazine.com
Price: FREE
Traffic: Medium
This is one of the best websites with thousands of how-to’s, articles and many more resources.
Pros
– Free to access
– Very well written and concise articles
– Worldwide reach
Cons
– It does not have a searchable ancestry records per se