Genealogy
Civil registration, parish records, census, immigration, and family history platforms. Arranged by record type and country.
Rating: start here first · strong source · specific cases
Start Here
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FamilySearch | Free genealogy search platform with records, images, catalogues, and research tools. Civil registration, parish records, census records. Free account required; some images restricted. | International | Account required | Multiple | |
| Ancestry | Major commercial genealogy platform. Records, trees, and DNA tools. U.S. and international family history. Subscription required for most records. | International | Paid / mixed | Multiple |
European Union
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FranceArchives | National French archival portal with collection descriptions, digitised material, and guidance for family-history research. | France | Free / mixed | FR | |
| Genealogia w Archiwach | Polish archive portal with digitised civil and church records from participating regional archives. | Poland | Free | PL | |
| Geneteka | Large volunteer index of Polish baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Check index entries against original records. | Poland | Free | PL | |
| GenTeam | Free Austrian and Central European indexes, including parish, Jewish, military, and cemetery records. Registration required. | Austria / Central Europe | Free / account | DE/EN | |
| ARCHION | Digitised German Protestant church books, with more than 200,000 volumes from partner archives. Paid access. | Germany | Paid | DE |
Australia
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trove | National Library of Australia discovery service for newspapers, books, photographs, maps, and other collections. | Australia | Free / mixed | EN | |
| National Archives of Australia | Australian government records including immigration, citizenship, military service, and naturalisation material. | Australia | Free / mixed | EN | |
| Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria | Official Victorian civil-registration service with family-history information for births, marriages, and deaths. | Victoria | Mixed | EN | |
| NSW Registry Family History | New South Wales historical birth, marriage, and death indexes and certificates. | New South Wales | Paid / mixed | EN | |
| Queensland Family History | Queensland historical birth, marriage, and death indexes and certificates. | Queensland | Paid / mixed | EN | |
| Ryerson Index | Free index to Australian newspaper death, funeral, probate, and obituary notices. Use it to locate the original notice. | Australia | Free | EN | |
| AIATSIS Family History | Guides and sources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family-history research, including Stolen Generations resources. | Australia | Free | EN | |
| Find & Connect | History and records of Australian orphanages, children’s homes, and other institutions. | Australia | Free | EN |
United States
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USGenWeb | Free volunteer-run network of state and county genealogy resources, including transcriptions, maps, obituaries, and local histories. | United States | Free | EN | |
| Ellis Island Records | Searchable passenger and arrival records for New York and Ellis Island, with immigration-history resources. | United States | Free / account | EN | |
| BLM GLO Records | Federal land patents and tract information, useful for researching land-owning ancestors and settlement history. | United States | Free | EN | |
| American Ancestors | New England Historic Genealogical Society database and research centre, with strong New England and U.S. collections. | United States | Paid / mixed | EN | |
| Library of Congress Genealogy Guide | Authoritative guide to genealogy and family-history resources at the Library of Congress and beyond. | United States / International | Free | EN | |
| Fold3 | Military records, service files, pension material, and memorial collections. Most records require a subscription. | United States / International | Paid / mixed | EN | |
| National Archives Catalog | Search catalogue for U.S. federal records, digitised documents, photographs, and archival descriptions. | United States | Free / mixed | EN |
Civil Registration
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGATHA (Belgium) | Belgian State Archives search system for civil status, parish registers, and archival descriptions. | Belgium | Free / account | NL/FR/DE/EN | |
| WieWasWie (Netherlands) | Dutch genealogical search for civil registration and person records. Births, marriages, deaths, population registers. Premium features exist. | Netherlands | Mixed | NL/EN | |
| FreeBMD (England & Wales) | Volunteer index of civil registration births, marriages, and deaths. Index only; certificates are separate. | England & Wales | Free | EN | |
| Scotland's People | Official Scottish genealogy site for civil registration, census, wills, maps, and images. Images generally require credits. | Scotland | Mixed | EN | |
| Portale Antenati (Italy) | Italian national portal for civil registration records (birth, marriage, death). Digitised registers from Italian state archives; run by Ministero della Cultura. Free. | Italy | Free | IT/EN | |
| IrishGenealogy.ie | Official Irish genealogy portal with General Register Office civil birth, marriage, and death records, subject to privacy cutoffs. | Ireland | Free | EN | |
| Archives nationales de Luxembourg | Luxembourg national archive search portal with civil-register and older church/civil material among wider archival holdings. | Luxembourg | Mixed | FR/DE/EN | |
| Landesarchiv NRW Family Research | North Rhine-Westphalia family-history portal with civil registers, duplicate church registers, Jewish registers, and related material. | Germany | Mixed | DE/EN |
Parish and Church Records
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FamilySearch | Extensive collection of indexed and imaged parish records worldwide. Free account required. | International | Account required | Multiple | |
| FreeREG | Volunteer database of UK parish baptisms, marriages, and burials. Transcriptions require checking against originals. | United Kingdom | Free | EN | |
| Matricula Online | Catholic church registers (baptisms, marriages, burials) for Austria, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Serbia, and Slovenia. ICARUS4ALL project; free access to digitised originals. | Central Europe | Free | Multiple | |
| Rahvusarhiiv Family Research | Estonian National Archives family-research guide and Saaga access for church books, vital entries, and related records. | Estonia | Free / account | ET/EN |
Census and Population Registers
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NARA Genealogy Portal | U.S. federal census and population records via National Archives. Many digitised records hosted by partner platforms. | United States | Free / mixed | EN | |
| Scotland's People | Scottish census records alongside civil registration, wills, and maps. | Scotland | Mixed | EN | |
| National Archives Genealogy (Ireland) | Free Irish genealogy portal with census returns, land records, wills, workhouse records, transportation records, and related sources. | Ireland | Free | EN | |
| Danish National Archives Online Records | Danish National Archives guide to online parish registers, census lists, military levies, and Danish West Indies records. | Denmark | Free | DA/EN | |
| Digitalarkivet / Arkivverket | Norwegian National Archives portal for censuses, parish registers, scanned records, probate, court, property, and other personal records. | Norway | Free | NO/EN | |
| National Archives of Iceland Search | Official search for National Archives of Iceland data, including census material, parish registers, and other genealogical sources. | Iceland | Free / mixed | IS/EN | |
| Library and Archives Canada Genealogy | Canadian national genealogy portal for census, immigration, naturalization, military, land, and family-history guidance. | Canada | Free / mixed | EN/FR |
Immigration and Naturalisation
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NARA Genealogy Portal | U.S. immigration, naturalisation, and passenger records via National Archives and partner platforms. | United States | Free / mixed | EN | |
| FamilySearch | Passenger lists and immigration records for multiple countries. Free account required. | International | Account required | Multiple |
Major Genealogy Platforms
Note on user trees
Trees on genealogy platforms are user-submitted and frequently contain errors. Treat tree entries as leads to verify against original sources, not as reliable facts.
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneanet | Genealogy community with trees, indexes, graves, photos, and record collections. Particularly useful for French, Belgian, Dutch, and wider European genealogy. | Benelux / Europe | Mixed | Multiple | |
| Findmypast | Commercial genealogy site with records and trees. Particularly strong for British and Irish records. Subscription required for many records. | UK / Ireland | Paid / mixed | EN | |
| MyHeritage | International genealogy platform with family trees, historical records, newspaper collections, and DNA tools. Subscription required for many records. | International | Paid / mixed | Multiple |
Aggregators and Cross-archive Search
| Priority | Source | Description | Region | Access | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Archives | Aggregates genealogical records from Dutch, Belgian, and European open archives. Verify against original scans. | NL / BE / Europe | Free / mixed | NL/EN | |
| Archives Portal Europe | European archival discovery portal aggregating descriptions across EU member archives. | Europe-wide | Free | Multiple | |
| genealogy.net Metasuche | Meta-search across multiple German genealogical databases simultaneously; run by Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. Good first stop for German research. | Germany | Free | DE | |
| Riksarkivet (Swedish National Archives) | Swedish National Archives online search for parish registers, census records, and emigration data. English interface available. Some collections require free registration. | Sweden / Scandinavia | Free / account | SV/EN | |
| Archivportal-D | National German archive discovery portal. Searches holdings across many archives; civil and church records still depend on the local holding archive. | Germany | Mixed | DE/EN | |
| Szukaj w Archiwach | Polish State Archives portal with registry-office records, scans, maps, photos, and genealogical material. | Poland | Free | PL/EN | |
| Digitarq | Portuguese archival network search, including Torre do Tombo and district archives where parish and civil records are often held. | Portugal | Free / mixed | PT | |
| PARES | Spanish State Archives portal for historical state records. Civil registration is not complete here, but it is a useful official archive search. | Spain | Free / mixed | ES | |
| Astia (National Archives of Finland) | Finnish National Archives service for searching, viewing digital material, ordering analog records, and making information requests. | Finland | Mixed | FI/SV/EN | |
| Nova Scotia Archives Vital Statistics | Searchable Nova Scotia birth, marriage, and death database with digitised original records. | Canada | Free | EN |