Italian-American Genealogy

When it comes to researching your Italian-American genealogy, you have a daunting task ahead of you. Research shows that Italian-Americans have established lives all throughout the United States, though California and New York tend to be prominent locations.

With time, patience, and the right resources, you can find the information you need. In time, you may even be able to trace your lineage back to Italy.


As with any American genealogy search, you should begin with your own family tree. Once you’ve interviewed family members, made record of any important documents such as deeds, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage dates, immigration records, and other relevant pieces of information, you should begin researching your surname.



However, it’s important that you do more than simply learn more about your family name. After all, when it comes to North American genealogy, there are thousands of individuals who may share your surname that aren’t related to you at all. This is where personal information becomes crucial, so be sure you know as much about your ancestors as possible.

You can do this by obtaining records that are unique to your family. These include family heirlooms, diaries, family plots, photo albums, scrapbooks, letters, deeds, wills, and other documentation.

Once you’ve learned a little more about your ancestry, you may find yourself at a crossroad as you find your lineage splits off into several different family names. This is an inevitable part of Italian-American genealogy. Should you encounter this problem, you can continue research based on your own personal decision, the relevance to your family line, or the relevance to a specific ancestor.

After you’ve made your decision, you can continue your search by looking up census records, city directories, any military records, church registries, cemetery records, citizenship records, and other essential pieces of information.

If you find yourself becoming stuck, it may behoove you to research the point in time your ancestors immigrated to North America. Knowing the history your ancestors lived in is a crucial part of learning more about them. Don’t limit your studies to US genealogy, however. Research as much information on Italy as you can as well.

Learning bits and pieces of your ancestors’ daily lives does more than just provide potential leads. It lets you connect to your ancestors in a truly intimate way.

Once you’ve learned all the information you can about your family lineage, you may wish to contact outside sources to help you along in your search. There are a variety of Italian-American genealogy societies that can help you. In time, you may even wish to take a trip to Italy and continue your search there. Either way, you will be doing your part to ensure your family name stays remembered and relevant.

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