People have always had names, of course. It’s how we distinguish between one another. But in the big picture, we really haven’t used for all that long. China might be the exception. Way back in 2852 BC, the emperor Fu Xi standardized the naming system there, for reasons related to… Read more“How the history of surnames affects your ancestry”

My 21-year-old stepdaughter was over for Easter dinner and saw the AncestryDNA kit on the table. “I’m so jealous,” she said, “I want to know where I come from.” I’ve been working on my family genealogy for 3 and a half decades, so, what do I want out of the… Read more“Diary of a DNA test”

Growing up I always thought I had to be more Irish than any of my siblings because I was born on the day before Lá Fhéile Pádraig (Saint Patrick’s Day)—one day early I might add; my due date was actually the 17th. When I realized an AncestryDNA test could tell… Read more“Who’s more Irish, you or your sibling? The surprising science behind the inheritance of ethnicity”

After researching more than three centuries of Abraham Lincoln’s family tree, Ancestry family historians have revealed a Lincoln family secret: famous actor George Clooney is related to the former president. The family bloodline for both notable figures links to Lincoln’s maternal grandmother Lucy Hanks. This common ancestor makes Clooney Lincoln’s half-first… Read more“George Clooney’s surprising honest family connection”

Kate Middleton shares traits in common with Austen heroines—and a distant relative with Austen herself. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” So said Jane Austen in her famous novel Pride and Prejudice. And… Read more“Ancestry discovers Princess Kate and Jane Austen are related”