What's in a Name?

In his seminal work The Gene: An Intimate History, Siddhartha Mukherjee quotes a famous line from The Odyssey: “The blood of your parents is not lost in you.” With the emergence of genetic technology, family histories no longer have to succumb to the fading of oral history, and anyone can now become a family history researcher and family historian. According to Jerome De Groot, the rise in genealogy is tied to years of migration and the loss of family relics, photos, and other items that once connected families to their histories. Family histories relied on oral history and traditional methods of passing down stories of one’s family past, and as the stories and relics became increasingly rare, so did a family’s knowledge of their cultural and historical identity. However, the age of the internet, combined with multiple breakthroughs in genetic testing and genome sequencing, means family histories no longer need to be unanswerable mysteries, but ones that can be rediscovered. And by devoting just a small amount of time per week or per month, one can uncover a treasure trove of family information beyond names and dates.

I took this to heart starting in 2020, when I dove into Ancestry.com to try to bring some light into my family history. At the time, I was unaware just how deep and comprehensive one could dive, even when starting with limited knowledge of my family history beyond my grandparents. What I ended up realizing is that not only have genealogy websites evolved into a valuable research resource, but they have also served as a catalyst for further examination of my family roots and a means to reconnect with family members I have not talked to in years. The research paid off immediately, and the branches of my family started extending far beyond what I had originally thought was possible. While the results of my gene sample uncovered the origins of my family on both my mother and father’s side, the database began suggesting familial links to other members of the site. As I started to uncover more and more about my family’s history, origins, migration patterns, and archival records, something unexpected began to happen. I started becoming even prouder of my family name. As I shared what I had learned so far from my research with my two adult children, they also began their own genealogical journeys. What started as mild curiosity has become not only a source of family knowledge but also of genuine appreciation and pride in my family tree and history.

According to a 2008 journal article by Howard Bybee, over 3 million websites at the time offered services to genealogists and family historians. That was almost 20 years ago. Genealogical research can often be entirely accomplished online. Family histories can be discovered and researched as family projects, helping bring families back together with their current relatives and ancestors. Genealogy becomes applied history, and more time devoted to the cause yields ever more information. The payoff is immediate, and continues to grow as the research expands. New discoveries increase motivation to continue learning and find more. Each new relative identified is a puzzle piece that answers one question and asks ten more. This is a direct byproduct of learning history, be it family, local, or national. When it brings a personal element, it significantly increases interest in learning more not only about one’s family but also about the regions from which the sides of the family originated.  My daughter, once she found out that my father’s side migrated from Scotland and Northern Ireland, became interested in the regions and the family. She has become much more knowledgeable than even myself about Scotland, Ireland, and the fascinating histories of the people and events that led to our family’s migration. She has not only become a successful family researcher, but a historical researcher. When she discovered that my great-grandfather was a preacher, she was overjoyed. I can’t think of a better way to honor a family’s legacy than by remembering and sharing the names, events, and lives of those who came before us, whose lives made it possible for my children to live in this country and discover their familial identities.

 

SOURCES

Ancestry.com

Bybee, Howard C. “Online Genealogical Research Resources.” Brigham Young University Studies 47, no. 1 (2008): 153-164. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43044620.

De Groot, Jerome. “International Federation for Public History Plenary Address: On Genealogy.” The Public Historian 37, no. 3 (August 2015): 102-127. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/tph.2015.37.3.102.

Mukerjee, Siddhartha. The Gene: An Intimate History. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2016.