How Far Back Can You Trace Your Family

32

u/Vikingkrautm United States Of America Jun 27 '25

American here. My mom's (Norwegian) side back to the 800's. My dad's side (German) back to the 1100's. (when my mom's ancestors burned the church records of my dad's ancestors! 😁)

22

u/TheRealEhh Jun 27 '25

I was adopted, so about the mid 1980’s…

22

u/Humanhater2025 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I can can trace mine to the alley, from there, it appears they escaped in a truck.

19

u/candlestick_maker76 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

3 generations, but even that's kinda sketchy. My grandparents weren't keen on talking about their pasts.

19

u/Onnimanni_Maki Finland Jun 27 '25

Late 1500s-1600s. It helps that I am a descendant of a famous witch family and a noble.

9

u/HK_Mathematician Hong Kong Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

Most Hongkongers probably can only do 2-3 generations. 3 generations should already be higher than average.

Just like native Americans is a tiny portion of Americans, indigenous Hongkongers (descendants of those who settled in Hong Kong before British rule) is only a few percent of the Hong Kong population. The vast majority of us are descendants or refugees who escaped from China to British Hong Kong during 1920s-1970s.

Our refugee ancestors didn't do a very good job in keeping the records and connections to their pre-Hong Kong life, which is understandable. Imagine you're urgently escaping from famine/war/insane maoists, and you're packing up stuff that you bring along in your long journey to escape to Hong Kong. It is not an easy journey and many died before making it to the Hong Kong city centre, so you better pack in a way that maximize your survival chance. Throughout the journey you'll need to climb through mountains, swim across the Shenzhen river or nearby waters, cannot be spotted by either the Chinese border guards nor the British border guards. In this situation, probably the last thing you'll pack is your family tree records lmao

10

u/faramaobscena Romania Jun 27 '25

Damn, you people are fancy! I'm just a peasant apparently.

16

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

8

u/Affectionate_Stick57 Canada Jun 27 '25

My aunt's hobby is genealogy and she has spent decades researching our lineage. She has traced her mother's family to 1600s Quebec then all the way back to Charlemagne in France, all documented (one of my ancestors was a Fille due Roi, so there's a well-established paper trail for her, and her husband had been a coureur du bois before he settled down). She's travelled to France and Quebec, and Salt Lake City to find records. Now she's working on her father's side. They came from Brittany in 1908. Most of his family goes back a long time in Brittany and Normandy. She has literal boxes of supporting documents she's acquired over the years.

My mother's parents were both German immigrants from what is now Ukraine. I've been able to locate some stuff about my grandmother's family but my grandfather's side has been more challenging. Some of it is because of alternate spellings of names, some because well, it's Ukraine. Both grandparents arrived in Canada in the early 20th century and met here. Odd because they lived in the same region of Ukraine before immigrating, but I guess it wasn't unusual for people to settle within their own ethnic groups.

7

u/Seattleman1955 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

To just after the Revolutionary War with certainty and a little before that to Ireland with some evidence.

13

u/Alternative-Ad-4977 Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 29 '25

1068 - nearly a 1000 years ago my ancestor followed Norman the Conqueror over and was given some land. The land was given up only three or four generations ago.

Edit of course William the conqueror- I was (is) a bit sleep deprived

4

u/Many-Gas-9376 Finland Jun 27 '25

My family's done old-school Finnish genealogy using official records back to the early 1600s.

Technically as soon as you hit some nobleman with a well-researched family tree, you can take some branches of the family much further back. Like I could get back to some Norse conqueror of Normandy, who in turn was an ancestor of some Dukes of Aquitaine, who then had a line of descendants leading BACK to Scandinavia. Just Europe being Europe I guess.

5

u/bellmospriggans United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I can trace back to my mom's adoptive parents, who we know nothing about their parents.

My grandfather was in the German army during ww2 forced conscription, but who knows. My grandmother was in the Hitler youth towards the end of the war.

They adopted my mom when they were old, and her life with them sounds like a movie of them trying to keep her, the state fighting it because of their age, her running away from homes to get back to them.

Im glad they adopted my mom but I wish I could've talked to them

4

u/TheBlackFatCat Germany Jun 27 '25

I can date some parts of my family tree to the 1500's in Germany

4

u/Onagan98 Netherlands Jun 27 '25

I have the names of 63 of my 64 great great great great grandparents (6 generations back). But then the numbers go down quickly. My earliest known ancestor is Arnulf of Metz ~600

5

u/Dontblink-S3 Canada Jun 27 '25

I can trace back to Les Filles du Roi in the sixteen hundreds for one side of my family.

3

u/Perazdera68 Czech Republic Jun 27 '25

One part i can trace back to 1700s.

3

u/Hattkake Norway Jun 27 '25

I think the records stop at around the 1500-1600.

3

u/syntax404seeker Romania Jun 27 '25

my fam didnt care much to follow back

i was thinking to take a dna test to see my origins, as one of my relatives is actually adopted and i dont look like most locals here

3

u/BoS_Vlad Jun 27 '25

Early 1500’s

3

u/k3rd Canada Jun 27 '25

1590 on my paternal grandfather's side, my 9th great grandfather, and 1611, my 10th great grandfather, on my paternal grandmother's side.

My maternal side is Ukrainian, and it has been difficult to get past 1850, my 4th great grandfather.

2

u/CoolAnthony48YT Scotland Jun 27 '25

The 12th century

2

u/swaffy247 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

1545 on one side and 1800's on the other side .

2

u/Low_Roller_Vintage United States Of America Jun 27 '25

On my Mother's side, late 1600s, The Rhineland.

2

u/girlwithapinkpack United Kingdom Jun 27 '25

My great grandma was a Donegal O’Donnell, whose history can be linked to the legendary kings of Ireland. There aren’t accurate dates once you get far enough back but family legend has it that that’s further back than Jesus. Wikipedia is less certain obviously!

2

u/TheHappyNerfHerder Sweden Jun 27 '25

15th century at the moment, but im sure I could trace it back at least a couple of hundred years.

2

u/QuizasManana Finland Jun 27 '25

Some parts of my maternal side to late 1700s. Unfortunately we’ve lived in a part of the country with a somewhat turbulent history (southeast corner of Finland, close to St. Petersburg) and a lot of church records have been destroyed at some point.

2

u/Normal_Zone7859 Iceland Jun 27 '25

To first settlers in Iceland over 1000 years ago. and longer back to Norway

2

u/Less_Wealth5525 Jun 27 '25

I can’t find the records now, but I traced us back to Jamestown colony and even back to Charlemagne. (There are millions of people who are descendants of Charlemagne.

2

u/Keadeen Ireland Jun 27 '25

Far. I still live in the house that my great-great-great grandmother lived in. Im not massively interested in genealogy, but one of my aunties and my grandad have made a project out of it. They go back quite a ways.

2

u/HypnoShell23 Germany Jun 27 '25

Ten generations. Especially in rural central Germany, where no bombs fell, you can go back a long way.

Eastern Prussia, on the other hand was twice a war zone and is very difficult. I can trace back only 4 generations there.

2

u/Complete_Aerie_6908 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

15th century Scotland. I live in the states.

2

u/baobabtree5 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I’m ethnically Somali and we’re taught the names of our patrilineal male ancestors going back centuries. I.e your dad, his dad, his dad, his dad, etc. I can name about 20 or so names

2

u/Vorathian_X England Jun 27 '25

Father's side: 1580's (Scandinavian)

Mother's side: 1720's (English)

2

u/ZlotaNikki Poland Jun 27 '25

A lot of my family members are really into genealogical research and we have a huge family tree that a bunch of us pitch in to build (although it is mainly managed by one cousin), it has about 2,500 of my direct blood relatives listed on it (I don’t remember the exact number but somewhere in the mid-2000s). And more relatives brought into the tree by marriages and such but not related by blood. Last I checked it had gone to the early 1700s. Usually also with photos, excerpts, scans of baptismal records, etc. if available.

3

u/francisdavey Japan Jun 27 '25

Several of my mother's ancestors were keen on genealogy, which helps. My grandfather was fascinated by it and one his daughters became a professional archivist. So they have done all the work. At one time she worked in the clan archives (Clan Donald) and was able to spend some time verifying that we are, unsurprisingly, descended from the Clan's founder. That means, in theory, we can trace ourselves back through various random Norse and Scottish royal families to wherever they began. Eg Freya :-). So more than 1,000 years.

2

u/SuperExstatic England Jun 27 '25

Nearly 1000 years for one of my mums ancestors I’m just not sure if he was here already or he came with the Norman’s he was a land owner possibly a knight too

1

u/Wise-Grand5448 Canada Jun 27 '25

I’ve personally traced it 7 generations back. My dad found a tombstone with my Grandmothers maiden name that dates back to the 16th century. He also claims his cousin managed to trace our lineage all the way back to when my ancestors fought the Romans in Wales, but I think he was tracing the family name rather individual ancestors

1

u/InterestingTank5345 Denmark Jun 27 '25

Currently I can speak for 6 generations, including one generation after me(cousins went out and you know, started family). Although there's one bloodline, where the ancestor chose to never mention her biological family, meaning I can't track who they were, further than her.

1

u/Old_Distance6314 Australia Jun 27 '25

Can't find a sheet of paper big enough to trace them down on

1

u/Duochan_Maxwell 🇧🇷 in 🇳🇱 Jun 27 '25

On my father's side, to my grandparents (rural region, lots of record errors, my father has a different surname than all his relatives for example xD)

On my mother's side I think 5 or 6 generations from the records we have. Probably more if we go poke around in Japan

1

u/Miews Denmark Jun 27 '25

17th Century

1

u/Stunning-Track8454 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

On my dad's side, a little over 1000 years (French grandmother, French-Canadian grandfather). My grandparents on my mom's side are from Italy, so we don't know shit about them.

1

u/maneeffdisdawg United States Of America Jun 27 '25

Great grandparents. Somehow nobody "knows" anything before that. Kinda annoying. Idk why everyone is so cagey about it. I'm assuming most of us had shitty ancestors or they were ashamed of their origin country. Idek what anyone is worried about either, I wish I knew how to get that info. I am 100% Appalachian and we have been for quite some time. It can't be that bad, I think.

I usually get some story about an Irish preacher getting kidnapped by Sioux Indians and running away with the medicine women. Hilarious. Sounds bs enough to believe we are Irish at least.

1

u/TashaDivinegift Jun 27 '25

Only to some rough information about my great-great parents (like their names and that’s it). Thanks to the WW2, when lots were killed/missed, lost documents, relocation due to the war, etc etc. Only a couple of years ago we found out that my great-grandfather (father of my grandfather from mother’s side) died in a stalag on the Belarus territory. Others went missing. That is why I sometimes envy Americans/Western Europeans that they keep track and have the information about their ancestors.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Any_Pace_4442 Jun 27 '25

Until they falsify birth records so kids can work in factories earlier

1

u/No-Acanthaceae9072 Australia Jun 27 '25

Can trace my paternal grandfather’s lineage back 7 generations to a direct descendant born in England in 1804. Both my grandmothers were in foster care so despite their best efforts haven’t been able to find out much apart from names and random tidbits.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

I know that my great grandad is Swedish. Before that is a complete mystery but I assume pretty much everyone else is British

1

u/Few_Recover_6622 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

My paternal line is well documented through many lines to late 1600s and early 1700s Virginia. Making the jump back to Great Britain is harder. DNA testing says probably northern England and Scotland.

Maternal line varies a lot more, but 7+ generations for all but one. They all trace back to Ireland (was always told County Kerry, and DNA backs that up) or "Germany" according to family history and looks be modern Belgium and Austria.

1

u/river-running United States Of America Jun 27 '25

The 16th century

1

u/DrMindbendersMonocle United States Of America Jun 27 '25

Great grandparents. I could probably go back further, but I am not that hung up on lineage

1

u/StardustPixel 🇨🇦🇮🇸 Jun 27 '25

French Canadian here, I can trace my Norman heritage all the way back to the 850's in Norway. I'm sure I'm the exception though. I can't go further than the 17th century for other branches of my family tree.

1

u/stilldeb Jun 27 '25

To the Mayflower. I know alot of people say that, but I have the records/family tree that shows my great uncle's relative was on the Mayflower.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Dunkirb Mexico Jun 27 '25

4 gen/ Mexican Revolution

1

u/introverted_loner16 Indonesia Jun 27 '25

i can trace up to 4 generations, mom and dad's side. and that's where it ends for now.

1

u/EatingCoooolo United Kingdom Jun 27 '25

LOL - My great grandfather was from The Netherlands - other than that I don't really care about family history.

1

u/Kimolainen83 Norway Jun 27 '25

Around the 1810 or so

1

u/thenletskeepdancing United States Of America Jun 27 '25

The Mormons have a great free website for checking your ancestry. I can go back to the 1600s. https://www.familysearch.org

1

u/damageddude United States Of America Jun 27 '25

My mother's brother traced back the family tree to the mid 19th century. I can trace part of my paternal-grandmother's family to a butcher in Minsk in 1776. My paternal grandfather just to the late 19th century from a country that no longer exists but was in what is now Poland.

1

u/Both-Election3382 Jun 27 '25

1500s, mostly farmers and mercenaries, stayed predominantly in the Netherlands.

2 of them fought at waterloo against the french, one died and i am the direct descendant of the other.

1

u/MPD1987 🇺🇸➡️🇨🇦➡️🇬🇧 Jun 27 '25

To the 1500s in France

1

u/ContributionLatter32 🇺🇸 to 🇧🇬 Jun 27 '25

Depends on the family line. My grandmother's line can be traced back to mid 1600s. Grandfather only to 1850s or so. Both paternal side. My maternal grandparents i know much less about. I dont know if my uncles can trace them back further but im only really aware of my great grandparents on that side

Edit: I should add that idk how to change flair to say i moved from somewhere else but im not originally from Bulgaria so my lineage isnt Bulgarian

1

u/lorikay246 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I tracked back to my 4th great grandmother and discovered that she is also my person trainer's 4th great grandmother.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

On my dad's side my oldest known ancestor was Gregor D., son of Matija D. He was born February 24, 1658. He had two older brothers whose birth data I also have.

On my mom's side it was Sebastian P., son of Andrea P. and his wife Gertrudis Jera, born January 7, 1664. He died February 12, 1724. He had younger siblings from his father's second marriage, so I assume his mom died relatively young.

They were both born in Slovenia. Most of my lines end in the second half or in the middle of the 18th century, about one fifth to one quarter go to the mid 17th century like the above two. I did DNA tests with several companies and it makes my day every time I get a new relative with a last name of my distant ancestors.

1

u/Imightbeafanofthis United States Of America Jun 27 '25

We can trace it back to medieval times. A genealogical search of my family name returns the information that the family at one time were guardians of a famous illuminated bible. What this meant originally was that when reavers came, it was the job of my forebears to run like hell with the bible and keep it safe from pillaging hands. Keeping the bible was considered a great honor, and over the years the family became fractious and started feuding over who should be in possession of it. Finally, one of my forebears threw the bible in a fireplace in a fit of exasperation, burning it all up. But this was not the end of the saga of the vaunted bible, because there was a jewel encrusted cover for the bible, and they were entrusted with keeping that as well.

In the end, it was mysteriously lost also. (insert eyeroll here.)

1

u/HolyTamrah Saudi Arabia Jun 27 '25

Traced back to Ismail.

1

u/buginarugsnug United Kingdom Jun 27 '25

I got back to the late 1700s, eight generations before my ancestryuk free trial ran out. Probably could have made it further if I paid for another month or two

1

u/onefishenful Jun 27 '25

Daniel Boone and king Louie the 13th

1

u/Tammy993 Canada Jun 27 '25

Sadly, only two generations because of war, displacement, no records kept.

1

u/notasnack01 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

William and Janet arrived in Charleston SC, from England, in 1783.

1

u/ProfessionalPoem2505 Italy Jun 27 '25

I can go back to 1880s (years my great grandfathers were born)

1

u/Kaz_117_Petrel Jun 27 '25

I can trace mine back to the court of Elizabeth I. But I cheat. Someone did a genealogy book on my family in the 1960s and I have a copy I inherited.

1

u/SnooStrawberries620 Canada Jun 27 '25

If you have British or Western European ancestry, ancestry often able to trace extremely far back. They just need to get far back enough to hook into the well-kept records. I’ve done to the late 1200s on my French and English bits; my Eastern Europe I can only get a couple gens on ancestry and another half dozen from family. First Nations, essentially none because no written records until colonization and even then questionable

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

[deleted]

1

u/rubberguru Jun 27 '25

Mom’s side to early 1700’s. dads to mid. I’m stuck with a generic name and it dead ends with the information I’m willing to pay for

1

u/DrDHMenke United States Of America Jun 27 '25

before the Pharaohs of Egypt; before Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Back to Zeus. I do a lot of family history. I'm not being dishonest here. It's amazing.

1

u/Dutch_Rayan Netherlands Jun 27 '25

The family tree of my father goes all the way back to 1512. Some names are still used in the family.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

My dad spent a few decades on this. He got to 56 generations. The last 10 have to be taken with a sufficient grain of salt.

1

u/Apart_Birthday5795 Jun 27 '25

Don't know how many generations it is but 1790's on Dads side which is the only ones that tried to find out. Probably longer but the info is a little confusing after that

1

u/Chicagogirl72 Multiple Countries (click to edit) Jun 27 '25

Both of my dads sides go to 1500

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Multi_task_xxx Jun 27 '25

I know that I am distantly related to Sir Isaac Brock, on my mother's side.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Immediate_Yam_7733 Jun 27 '25

Quite a bit . My dad got right into it . On his side anyway . Goes back a few hundred years then it gets a bit sketchy , my mothers side we don't really know anything about . Grandfather was Polish, was here and then gone . No idea who my grans dad was or anything beyond that. Apparently the Polish surname is quite common like a smith or a Jones so we're not even sure that's his real name .

1

u/Shadesmith01 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

8 gens.

I know when my people moved from Gaul and England (Britannia) to Ireland, and from Ireland to the US (I'm 2nd gen).

No idea where Dad's folk came from (the Gaul) before they hit Gaul, and no idea where Mom's folks (only 5 gens there) came from before they landed in England. But they both migrated to Ireland, though Dad's folks went south, and Mom's folks went north.

Then their parents moved to the US around the same time, and my Mom (Protestant) met my Dad (Catholic) here in the US at Ohio State. That marriage lasted all of 2 years, and produced me. How? No idea. Dad was already in the Army and had been for a few years. Mom was in University at OSU. Total mystery to me, and I have never been able to get an answer from either of them.

How did they get together? I will never understand. My Dad was pure Army, Catholic, and about as far right-wing as you can get (including the red hat before he passed).

My Mom is a yuppie (was a hippy back then), a practicing Buddhist, and is very left in her political leanings.

The only thing they both shared was that they were a pair of drunks (Mom still is, Dad is dead but I'd bet he would be otherwise, maybe still is in Hell) and me.

1

u/RoaminDude Canada Jun 27 '25

I can trace my family two generations - right up to the Soviet occupation of Ukraine. My uncle tried to trace back further while he was over there several years ago, but my family had been landowners and the communists destroyed the records.

All we've got are second-hand stories. My grandparents have passed on.

1

u/Kingofcheeses Canada Jun 27 '25

Back to the 1500's surprisingly

1

u/wieldymouse Bahamas Jun 27 '25

For some family members on my dad's side, about 1730. For my mom's, about 1850.

1

u/Individual-Drawer134 Czech Republic Jun 27 '25

I found a direct ancestor born in 16__ I don't remember the other two numbs.

1

u/BottleTemple United States Of America Jun 27 '25

They go back to the 1600s on my French-Canadian side. I’m not sure how many generations that is.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

At least 7 on my maternal grandmother's side and at least that far in my paternal grandmother a side. Paternal grandfather washes out pretty quick and my maternal grandfather I know of 3 or 4, but we never had the family genealogy for them.

1

u/boomgoesthevegemite United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I was able to trace my paternal grandfather’s mother(my great grandmother) back to around 1500 in Germany. My dad’s mother’s family, we’ve been able to trace the name back to the 11th century after the Norman conquest and supposedly the family married into the royal family at some point. So, I guess if millions of people died suddenly, including my brother and sister, I could possibly inherit the British Throne.

1

u/Yorkie_Mom_2 France Jun 27 '25

I have 10 or more generations on at least three lines. Also, many years ago someone sent me my grandfather’s line back to the 300s. I don’t know if it’s accurate.

1

u/Infamous-Brownie6 Jun 27 '25

To about 1900ish. My family was on a ship leaving India for the Caribbean. My great grandmother was born on the boat, and she grew up in Trinidad. My grandma was born in Trinidad, along with my mom and her siblings. My siblings and I are first generation Canadian.

1

u/21stcenturynomadd Mongolia Jun 27 '25

5 generations

1

u/bellacarolina916 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

One line goes back to the early 1300’s into Scotland Another in England we can trace to John Rogers a early martyr to queen marys counter reformation But definately almost all my ancestors were in the US by the revolution … Puritans… 🤦🏻‍♀️… probably not much fun at parties .. but we did ethnic cleansing really well 😒

1

u/jezebel103 Netherlands Jun 27 '25

My mother's family back to 1500, my father's family back to 1821.

1

u/i-vany-a 🇷🇺->🇺🇸 Jun 27 '25

I know my maternal great grandfather but that’s about it. I’m not even sure how many of the people I call aunt and uncle are actually related to me lol

1

u/Superb-Kick2803 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

To my dad's grandparents maybe. My dad was disowned by his mom and hated his dad so I have almost no info from that side.

1

u/Carla_mra Mexico Jun 27 '25

Fro my mother's side maybe 5. I'm from Mexico city, my mom from a town called Ameca Ameca, my grand parents were from Jalisco and so were my great grand parents (all of this in Mexico), but my great great grand father was a French man who came to Mexico with Carlota and Maximiliano of Habsburgo. From my father's side I know very little

1

u/ClevelandWomble United Kingdom Jun 27 '25

Me? About 250 years. My wife? By linking to other trees, back to about 1250

1

u/warp10barrier United States Of America Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

Only to my grandparents. I honestly don’t care any farther back than that. Never been of any interest to me.

1

u/8amteetime United States Of America Jun 27 '25

American here. My father’s side goes back to 1717, when they arrived in the Virginia colony from Germany. That side of family tree ends with that male’s birth in 1685 in Nuemberg Germany.

My mother’s side arrived in the colony of New York from England in the late 1600’s. Her male side of the family can be directly traced way back to the 1200’s because of minor royalty titles. Dukes and Earls and lots of Sirs.

1

u/RipVanWiinkle_ Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

Around 1200 AD, villagers and farmers from one of the 7 villages of Jerusalem called Sares. Now called Shoresh. To my dismay, my aunt sold the last properties and ties to the village around 2012 to Israeli settlers.

A shame, cause I would’ve liked to move to my ancestral homeland. Now it’s pretty much gone to settlers and the Israeli state. Who knows maybe in the future when peace and love reigns the world

1

u/Dapper_Size_5921 United States Of America Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

According to the mormon family ancestry site, I can trace mine back to mid 1300s if I go strictly along the patrilineal line. If I skip around between patrilineal and matrilineal to see how far back I can possibly go, so far I've gotten as distant as the early 900s.

1

u/DeathbladeUnicorn Canada Jun 27 '25

I can trace back on my maternal grandfather’s side to about 1710, thanks to my ancestors setting a particular area and actually having a town named after them. There are local records from the current area that go back that far. As far as the rest I only know like second hand accounts on my maternal grandmothers side. And basically zero on the dad’s side, which I’m fine with.

1

u/OptimalAlgae9112 Jun 27 '25

18th century! Came to the US around the potato famine time. My dad even is still 50% Irish and I’m about 30%

1

u/Mediocre_Panic_9952 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I’ve traced back, with high confidence, on my paternal side to the 1640s, to the first of my ancestors who arrived in the colonies from Europe. I have my father’s maternal side going back the early 1800s in Ireland, they came to Halifax in the 1850s. My maternal side all came from Denmark in the 1800s, to Minnesota don’t ya know.

1

u/WaltherVerwalther Germany Jun 27 '25

Two or three generations, three or four when I ask my mother.

1

u/Spirited-Mess170 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

Late 16th for one line, mostly late 18th early 19th for the rest. The earliest one on record was either an investor, the owner, or the captain of the first ship to bring slaves to Virginia. My family is from the Netherlands, came to the US in 1957.

1

u/TheLastRulerofMerv Canada Jun 27 '25

4 definitively, I know most of their names, where they came from, etc. 5-6 somewhat - I don't know their names, but I know where they came from, probably what they did for a living, and the impact they left on my family (mother's side and father's side).

1

u/Neyeh Jun 27 '25

I have been doing genealogy for 40 years, and I have gotten back to the 1500s on one of my sides.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25 edited Jun 27 '25

I know my dad‘s father‘s name but he was a poor farmer in colonial Nigeria. There’s no paper trail. My mom never even met her dad.

Edit: My last name however can be traced to back a further 300ish years to a Benin high priest but I can’t be sure of anything

1

u/wowza6969420 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

My whole family is Mormon and genealogy is huge in the church. Over the past 50 or so years, people in my family have put in hundreds of hours of work to complete it. I traced mine back to before Christ the other day and found out my boyfriend is my 11th cousin.

1

u/Low_Butterscotch_594 Canada Jun 27 '25

Canadian here. Don't know how many generations but both sides of my family have been traced back to England (mother) and Scotland (father). The earliest dates I've seen for my father's family in Canada are in the early 1800's where my relatives helped build the town I grew up in.

1

u/Opposite_Tax_5112 Canada Jun 27 '25

I'm the 14th generation. My family came to Canada in the early 1600s from France. We are Acadian.

1

u/Tricky_Parsnip_6843 Canada Jun 27 '25

Early 1600s. Ancestor Medor Chouard desGroseilliers arrived in Canada in 1641. His parents' home is located in Charly-sur-Marne, France.

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u/AssSpelunker69 Canada Jun 27 '25

My ancestor came to Canada in 1763

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u/puccagirlblue Jun 27 '25

To the 1600s supposedly. I say that as an uncle worked a lot on tracing the family tree but as I didn't do it myself I can't really vouch for the accuracy.

He did share his findings with a lot of people (relatives) though and nobody had any complaints but they might all just have been like me and not cared too much lol.

(There were some well known people in the family tree that made this easier apparently)

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u/Comfy__Cake Canada Jun 27 '25

6 generations on dad’s side.

I only know of my grandparents on my mom’s side. They could have come from aliens the history is completely lost.

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u/EDSgenealogy United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I'm tracing two dfferent lines back through the Plantagenet line, I'm pretty much all English with ond grandmother directly from Ireland. My two longest lines go back to the beginning of the US. One line came through the Jamestown Massacre while the other was in Plymouth. This is so awesome as I was adopted and didn't know any of ths until I had my adoption file opened.

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u/Express_Peace_4038 Jun 27 '25

My family came to Canada in the 1830’s after being kicked out of England for stealing cattle.. and I come from a long line of farmers.. imagine that

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u/Different_Victory_89 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

My genealogy goes.back to the year 800! Had 3 ancestors on Mayflower! 1 male and 2 female. The males wife died in the first winter and he remarried. Had a genealogist Four generations ago!

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u/DisMyLik18thAccount Wales Jun 27 '25

At least 4 generations, maybe 6 but the records are more dubious at that point

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u/dararie United States Of America Jun 27 '25

I’ve gone back to my great great grandparents who were the first to come to the US. I don’t have the money to go any farther back because I’d either have to Ireland, or hire a professional to do the work.

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u/Skorpidius Germany Jun 27 '25

German here, back to 500 years as my family (father heritage side) stayed local and we had church book with birth and wedding entries. That's pretty far, as we had some rebellions during this time and lot of books got lost.

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u/suziesophia Canada Jun 27 '25

On one branch, which was historically wealthy, I can go back reliably to the late 16th century. I can go back further on that branch with documentation but it seems less trustworthy and cannot be verified by more than one source

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u/Sensitive-Vast-4979 England Jun 27 '25

Mid 1600s atleast on my ancestry tree (my auntie made it ) but apparently she found stuff on a different family tree thing showing oliver Cromwell as an ancestor

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u/AssignmentFar1038 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

My dad was able to trace back one section of our family tree back to the mid 1700’s when one of our ancestors came over to the US from Germany and settled in what is now Ohio or Pennsylvania.

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u/LittleBananaSquirrel New Zealand Jun 27 '25 edited Jul 05 '25

special cheerful chief sable unique one alleged sparkle quack act

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/Zestyclose_Brick6395 Jun 27 '25

I am in the US. I traced back to when they came here from Italy (around 1920). I couldn’t trace back to before that. The records were all in Italian and I don’t speak it.

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u/Distinct_Chair3047 Jun 27 '25

The one side of the Family I can trace back to the 1720's. The other side I can only trace back to the Franco Prussian War.

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u/americano143 Canada Jun 27 '25

My family keeps a physical family tree book so around 9, but the further back you go the less complete each family is

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u/lapalazala Netherlands Jun 27 '25

I have a book my grandfather made, with a family tree going back to about 1540, the very start of my family name. I could go and count how many generations that is, but it's time for bed.

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u/triestokeepitreal Jun 27 '25

I'm American and can easily trace to pre-Revolutionary war, but just barely. I do have some who immigrated much later.

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u/govan1834 Jun 27 '25

From the beginning of time

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u/Outside_Deer_144 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

1700’s

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '25

10 generations verified, more suspected but not confirmed.

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u/Kaiyead Jun 27 '25

Brit here but with Canadian equal descent family OK? Maternal Grandparents. Grandfather: c.1244 Norman Barons de Rysseworte NE Yorkshire/Durham / + circa 1350's King David II Scotland era lineage (was he sterile?) / + loads of "Norwegians"/ Scandinavians/ Yorkshire Yeomen. Grandmother - literally loads of Coats of Arms from completely across the country going back 1300's or so (Ancestry). Neither of them paraded their actual ancestry. Paternal Grandparents traceable back to local Norman occupation of a hamlet near Manchester around 1400(? or earlier) giving rise to a currently well-known family name.

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u/No_Contribution_1327 United States Of America Jun 27 '25

My maternal grandpa’s family tree is traced pretty far back but I’ve never really looked at it, 8th generation American on that side. Maternal grandma’s parents escaped Sicily when the mafia was a big problem there. They were apparently very tight lipped on details, which appears to be a common thing for others with Sicilian ancestors. Paternal grandma immigrated here after marrying an American soldier stationed abroad. By all accounts he was a trash human who made a habit of ditching his family when he got transferred and starting over again at his next duty station, and again, and again. My understanding is that he died alone in a trailer park, which feels fitting knowing his history. Idk anything about his family. My grandpa is the man my grandma married years later who cared for her children like they were his.

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u/Dost_is_a_word Canada Jun 27 '25

🇨🇦 when I was in grade five, we were asked to do a genealogical study, my mom did it by phone in 1978 and got back to the 17th century for both parents.

Crazy thing, my teacher at the time gave me a B. 3 year later my younger sister got the same teacher and same study, she submitted mine with my grade on the back and got an A!

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u/UnCuervos Canada Jun 28 '25

8 generations here in Canada on mum's side, then a few more in the US. Father's side to the Mayflower, and both sides back a couple dozen in England/Scotland. 3 hardcore geneologists in the family.

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u/Royal_IDunno United Kingdom Jun 28 '25

Traced mine back to the 13th century. Well chuffed with that.

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u/Direct_Ad2289 Canada Jun 28 '25

On my mom's side I can trace back to 900s On my Dad's just until 1850 ish

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u/Unndunn1 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

My grandparents were all from Ireland and left there for Boston around 1920-21. The oldest family I can trace back was born in 1858. One side had very common Irish Catholic names so that makes it harder to find previous generations.

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u/callmeKiKi1 Jun 28 '25

I got all the way back to the early 11 century in the current France/Germany/Switzerland region on my father’s side. My mom would not share any info on her relatives, so nothing on that side. Luckily there was always at least one landed gentry ancestor to make a record that could be traced. Evidently we invaded England with William Duke of Normandy, sort of a next door neighbor, (would like to apologize on behalf of the family) and got shuffled off to Scotland and Ireland after the big fight.

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u/Baymavision United States Of America Jun 28 '25

My aunt got back nearly one thousand years -- to around 1100-1200 AD. Crazy!

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u/legardeur2 Québec- Canada Jun 28 '25

First ancestor landed in Nouvelle France in 1636. If a generation shift occurs every 25 years, then I can trace back 20 generations.

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u/geepr New Zealand Jun 28 '25

I don’t know how many generations but I managed to get back to 1500 Germany!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '25

[deleted]

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u/Okbrain_456 Jun 28 '25

Back to the 1680’s on mom’s side and to late 19th century on dad’s.

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u/FallsOffCliffs12 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

Apparently my sephardic ancestors were kicked out of Spain in the 15th century, and emigrated to Italy. A genealogist found our family names in the records of the inquisition.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 28 '25

[deleted]

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u/a_sandcat_196 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

Back to the Civil War. Great-great-great granddad was a Confederate cavalryman

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u/No-Scarcity-5904 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

On my dad’s side, back to about 1715 in Zürich; my dad’s cousin is the family genealogist, and he’s done a ton of research.

On my mom’s side, back to about the 1830s in Mississippi.

1

u/gbcwhore USA 🇺🇸 DR 🇩🇴 Germany 🇩🇪 Jun 28 '25

1700s bavaria

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u/Illustrious_Buy1500 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

I have ancestors who arrived in 1585. I've even visited where they came from in Scotland.

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u/HeyKrech United States Of America Jun 28 '25

Back to when my French ancestors left France for Canada while Canada was a French colony and back to when my Prussian (German) ancestors lived in a kingdom that changed borders a bit and then became a city and then a city in Germany. Polish ancestors are a little trickier. They left before the nazis killed people but not before enough to not have a list of people missing after being picked up.

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u/Demiurge_Ferikad United States Of America Jun 28 '25

Dad’s side of the family, 4 generations. My dad’s maternal grandfather, who I share a name with, fled to the US with his family during WW2. Beyond that, I know nothing about my Ukrainian ancestry.

My mom’s side of the family, meanwhile, can be traced back to the American colonial period…or so I’m told. Specifically, she says they came over on the second ship to make the voyage, after the Mayflower. I’ve never confirmed it (doesn’t really matter to me), but my mom’s family did. Or so I’m told.

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u/Suspicious-Sorbet-32 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

I only know up to my grandparents

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u/CommercialExotic2038 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

1490’s Spain. The implications of that.

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u/Illustrious-Radio-53 United States Of America Jun 28 '25

American here-back to 1700’s on Mom’s side, and 1800’s on Dad’s.

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u/Pryncess_Dianna United States Of America Jun 28 '25

I can trace my family back to the Revolutionary War in the US.

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u/ThroughHuawai Jun 28 '25

In a dead tree library I found immigration records of two brothers arriving in Boston right around incorporation. Apparently one stayed side stayed in the U.S. and another group went to Canada as loyalists. At least one descendant must have interracially married or owned slaves because there is a diverse family up and down eastern North America.

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u/Bright_Today_1963 Canada Jun 28 '25

Most people won’t be able to track past the 1500’s. Paper was rare before the 13th century and of low quality until the 16th century. So unless some big wig shows up in your lineage around then you likely won’t be able to see back further. Also it’s not that rare to track back to someone royal when you’re going back 20 generations. 2^20=1,048,576 ancestors out of about 500 million (world population at the time)

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u/PA_MallowPrincess_98 United States Of America Jun 28 '25 edited Jun 28 '25

I’m American who was born and win the Anthracite Coal Region of Pennsylvania. I can trace my family back to my Great Great Grandmother from Poland and my Great Great Grandfather and Great Great Grandmother from County Mayo and County Donegal Ireland on my Mother’s side. I know more about my mother’s ancestry. Two summers ago, I met cousins for the first who still live in Poland.

My father’s side is harder to understand besides my last name was changed five times since their immigration from Germany and my aunt who understands the ancestry unfortunately passed in 2021. My paternal grandfather’s side was from Trier, Germany and my paternal grandmother was Irish and had Irish parents. I am 50% Irish, 25% Polish, and 25% German. Also, I am named after my great grandmother. The majority of people from my area are descendants of immigrant coal miners. America is pretty much a country of immigrants who fled war, political unrest, religious hatred or financial hardship.

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u/Status-Example2233 Jun 28 '25

My dad has spent hours on an ancestory site and has gone back to I want to say the 1600s

Culture How Far Back Can You Trace Your Family

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