How do I find my grandfather's nationality?

Question

Hi. I'm wondering how to find my granfather's nationality or country of birth. My parents never talked about this stuff except to say he was an alcoholic. How would I go about finding this stuff out?

Thanks for any answers.

Answer 1

find a local library with a genealogical section (records) and ask them for help

if you have his name, and an rough idea of when and where he was born, they should be able to find him

or depending on the ages on his children(your mum or dad?), you maybe able to find their birth and then track back to him

this depends on your parents ages as modern/recent records aren't yet released for privacy reasons

Answer 2

The first answerer couldn't be more wrong.  Real genealogists know that origins of names will tell you nothing about where a person actually came from.  We know that there are many sources for the same name and there are many reasons family end up with a specific name; and these things all contribute to why the origins of a name means nothing in regards to where your family came from.

Do you know who his parents were?  If so, and if he was alive in 1930, you may be able to find him on a census record with his parents if he was still a child, or with his wife if he was old enough to be married in 1930.  Maybe post his name, his wife's name, his parents name here, and if known, any possible locations he may have been living and let us see if we can find him.

Answer 3

If you know his surname you can find out where it originated from online. Just type it in a search box and it will tell you where the name came from.

Answer 4

You did not include your country.. so it kind of is hard to be sure which documents are useful.  To begin with.. your parent's birth certificate will give his name, and in many cases, either his age, or his place of birth.

IF you are in the US.. www.rootsweb.com has the social security death index.  From this.. you can get his birth and death dates, and (normally) the location. What you need is normally on the death certificate.. in your case, if he was estranged from all family, it is not guaranteed that the informant will know this.

The other choice is the census.. which in the UK is not open after 1901, but US is open to 1930.  

Last.. did he have other children, and where are they? They could know the answer. You don't have legal authority to their documents, if they are still living.