How do i find out what country my ancestors came from?

Question

How do i find out what country my ancestors came from?

Answer 1

Try www.ancestry.com you can search for your family tree

Answer 2

Start with you, and USING DOCUMENTATION (birth/death certificates, so forth), work backwards. Even if you "know" the info, get into the habit of depending on records. This way, you are always certain that you are looking at/ for the right people, ones that are actually your ancestors.  Your family *might* know, or they may have heard family stories.. which sometimes are not reliable.

Assuming you are in the US, persons born before 1930 are normally findable in the census records.  Starting in 1850, it lists the place of birth for that person, and from 1880 through 1930, it shows the place of birth for both that person AND his/ her parents (but not their names).  Pre 1850 can be hard. If a person is 80 yrs old in the 1880 census, then they were born 1800.. and it will list the place where their parents were born.

You cannot depend on a surname "origin" to prove where a family came from.. since many surnames are found in multiple places. Thus, the only way to know YOUR history is finding your individual ancestor.

Answer 3

ask your grandfather or your grandmother, or mabe even your mom or dad might no far enough or heres a link that might help you  

http://www.ancestry.com/?o_xid=34563&o_l...

Answer 4

Start with your family, especially grandparents and great aunts and uncles -- they're more likely to have some of that information. Also, look at your family name.  That should give you some help because it should give you hints about the language your ancestors spoke.  For instance, if your name ends in -ov, -ski, -ovitch, etc., your ancestors are probably Slavic from eastern Europe.  Names that end in -sen or -son like Petersen or Davidson may be Scandinavian or English.

A librarian can help with reference books and suggest other good places to look.  There are many resources online, both free and for a fee, that give you access to census records and other documents to track down older information.  Someone may have already researched at least part of your family tree, and so they may have saved you a lot of work already.  Once you have a start, write down your family tree so you can organize the information and keep a record:  names, dates, relationships, etc.  Good luck, and have fun!

Answer 5

find out what language ur last name is, that will give you ideas to your dad's side of the family...

ask your family members, or you can find out by checking out county/state birth records to find "ancestors" from early 1900's and then google them!

there are plenty of websites (all the ones i use are listed above!)

surely someone in ur family knows!

Answer 6

Trace as far back as you can by paper trail; if that doesn't cut it, opt for a DNA test.  See below:

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

Answer 7

ask your oldest in your family and they may give you a clue