free genealogy databases
Free Genealogy Databases – A Brief Overview
Does Size Matter?
Many popular free genealogy databases on the Internet claim impressive databases of hundreds of thousands of names. Does that impress you? The huge numbers really do grab your attention, but the real question is not about quantity – it’s about quality.
What Is Quality?
How do you measure the quality of a genealogy database? Simple. How useful is the information to you? If you find information that is actually useful, then the database is a good one for you – so keep using it!
What Are You Searching For?
Depending upon what information you are searching for, you may be able to avoid joining a subscription genealogy site. If you are searching for these specific types of information, here are some alternatives to the pay sites:
- United States World War II enlistments: aad.archives.gov (free), and Ancestry.com (Pay)
- US Social Security Death Index (SSDI): rootsweb.com (free) and familysearch.org (free), ancestry.com (pay)
- Ellis Island passenger lists from 1892-1924: EllisIsland.org (free), Ancesty.com (pay) and World Vital Records (pay)
- Irish-American immigration records from 1846-1851: aad.archives.gov (free), Ancestry.com (pay) and World Vital Records (pay)
- California Death Index from 1940-1997: RootsWeb.com (free), Ancestry.com (pay)
- Canadian Census data 1901, 1906 and 1911: AutomatedGenealogy.com (free), Ancestry.com (pay)
Review of Free Genealogy Databases (and some Pay sites too)
The following is a review of some of the super-ultra-mega-databases found on the Internet. Some are free and some are fee-based. Check them out and use the ones that provide value to you.
This free database is home to over 22 million records of passengers and ships’ crews who came to Ellis Island, New York between 1892 and 1924. You can search ships’ passenger records and even look at the ships’ manifests to see the passenger’s names. You can discover names, ethnicity, date of arrival, age upon arrival, gender, marital status, place of residence, port of departure and ship of travel. This is truly a helpful database for many Americans! This database was created by volunteers and allows you to customize your searches (US$45 annual contribution memberships are tax deductible, but not required).
There are over 29,000 databases (and over a billion names!) to search through on Ancestry.com. There is a Civil War Research database with information on over two million civil war soldiers, as well as other military databases. Of course there is US Census data, and vital records data (birth, death, marriage certificates). There is literally more information here than most people have the time to research! If Ancestry.com doesn’t have a database with the information you need, then it probably doesn’t exist! (That’s a bit of an overstatement, but you get the point, right?) Ancestry.com is the biggest of the genealogy databases. They offer limited information for free, and deluxe memberships from US$13 to US$19 per month.
There are over 75 million records in this database of the US Census in the year 1900. This data is from microfilm images and is searchable only by the head-of-household name (but the images should list all family members by name!). This database is not free – US$15 per month.
Over 700 million records are searchable through this free volunteer-driven site operated by the Latter-Day Saints Church (LDS, or Mormons) through their Family History Department. Three of the world’s largest databases are here: the Ancestral File, International Genealogical Index (IGI) and the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC). The Ancestral File has over 35 million names categorized into families with pedigrees. The IGI contains over 600 million names gathered from vital records all throughout the world. The FHLC contains records from the LDS church.
Family Tree of the Jewish People
Over 1.5 million Jewish vital records are searchable for free at this database. There is one caveat: you must register and submit valid genealogical data into the JewishGen Family Finder database before you will be able to search for free.
There are over 18 million British vital records available on this free volunteer-powered database dating back to 1837! The primary focus is British birth, marriage and death records (the “BMD” part of “FreeBMD”).
Powered by donations for the software program “GeneaWeb”, this free database is home to over 47 million searchable records. Users are encouraged to donate their own genealogy databases in GEDCOM or GeneaNet file format.
There are over 1 billion records available in this subscription-only database. You can earn one month free membership by submitting genealogy data for 15 families and 60 individuals. Subcription prices range from US$5 up to US$100 for a full year.
There are over hundreds of thousands of records available on this free database from Canada’s National Archives. You can search by many fields including gender, age, religion, birthplace, ethnicity and location.
Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
Over 66 million records are searchable on the free SSDI database.
Over 77 million records are searchable in this free database from RootsWeb, driven by user-donated GEDCOM data. Users can correct their uploaded data if they notice errors, which makes for a better quality database.
So there you have it – quick overview of only a small portion of the free genealogy databases available to you online. Remember that some of the free databases offer more features with a subscription (for a price!). There are more free databases than what is listed here (some of which are very specific to certain locations or family surnames). So what are you waiting for? Get started digging up your family history today via these free online databases!
All the best to you!
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