Famous Relatives

Have you ever wondered if you were related to someone famous? Famous Relatives on FamilySearch.org will help you figure it out. Famous Relatives is a new discovery activity that shows how connected we are to each other. In this video, we'll share a demo about how to find your famous relatives on FamilySearch.org!
This presentation was part of RootsTech Connect 2021. Find hundreds of free family history classes, keynotes, and more. familysearch.me...
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RootsTech is hosted by FamilySearch, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to creating inspiring family discovery experiences. RootsTech is the premier global event and learning resource for making family connections and receiving guidance to help people learn more about their families.
FamilySearch is an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people all over the world connect with their family: past, present, and future. Our partnerships with thousands of record custodians and major genealogical organizations allow us to make billions of records available for you to research your family tree free of charge! Regardless of where or how you research your ancestry, we have specialists all over the world to help you experience the joy of connecting with your heritage.
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[@paubosch7261]

The problem is that it is very USA-centetered. I have famous relatives that are not indexed in this feature because they are not from USA. Is it possible to suggest famous local people?

[@sandragawinski5720]

...gw washam so am I !

[@Justthollyy]

Just on the screenshot alone, I can see we share 5 relatives.😮 (my sister is doing our families on FS) Kinda cool to see how many well known people we are related to.

[@randyh801]

Good to meet you, cousin!

[@cameronwhatidoinsparetime8300]

I do this I always look up famous people online on Wikipedia to type them in on family search and I found a lot of really famous people

[@gwwasham]

Is this true or a bunch of nonsense? It turns out I am related to elvis, marilyn monroe, john wayne, lady Diana, the Wright Brothers, Lincoln, Truman, and Darwin. But that is not all. I find it hard to believe.

[@KimmyR0227]

its all true dw, as long as you know what you are looking into :)

[@randyh801]

Except for some exceptions, our family trees double every generation. 11 generations back, you'll have 1024 8th great-grandparents. However, let's just say each generation has averaged 4 children who survived to childbearing years. From a single 8th great-grandparent, you'll have around 1 million total relatives. So you're looking at a billion people that you are related to through your 1024 8th great-grandparents (assuming no one ever married a relative and that average of 4 panned out). The experience is only limited by the data in the FamilySearch Family Tree. As that data improves, you're likely to have even more results.

[@williammcclary1315]

Me also same ones

[@PoppyMom1]

Me too!!! I also have Helen Keller and a few others, like Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, through her Mum, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother….but I’m still not sure if it’s right or not. I have managed to go back a certain way (for instance, Diana, Princess of Wales) and so far, it’s checked out but still…😂 My family tree on FS isn’t that big and I have only managed to go back to my GG x 2, but on Ancestry, it’s a bit bigger; so does FS share any data with Ancestry or vice versa?

[@vickit.1797]

Im kin to almost all those people u named but Not Write bros, Lncoln or darwin. but elvis Marilyn Munroe ,John wayne and the others u named plus im kin to Robert e lee, george Washington ,Lucille Ball ,Tomas Jefferson, and just to many ! It cant believe it) its probably not right.

[@Elistarielle]

Where is this on the website?

[@vincentcourvoisier]

Here is the link: www.familysearch.org/discovery/famousrelatives

[@sandragawinski5720]

I cannot believe all these people I'm related to.

[@familysearch]

Exciting!

[@XKatrinaVWX]

I found out I’m Theodore Roosevelts 8th cousin 4x removed and my 12th great grandfathers last name is Van Roosevelt 🤯

[@kjohnson8081]

I'm related to A Lincoln

[@PoppyMom1]

How accurate are these? I have found that I have quite a few “famous” people who, to be honest, seem rather far-fetched or too good to be true (yup, I’m a total cynic!); so how on earth can I find out for definite whether I am or not?

[@wendynorwitz8909]

My grandmother always said we were related to Ulysses SGrant but he didn’t come up in my matches. Is there a list of people that you’re matching trees from?

[@randyh801]

We don't have a public list, but I can tell you that all US Presidents are included. The experience is wholy reliant on the Family Tree though, so it could be that a relationship needs to be fixed.

[@princesamimi7133]

I have almost all the same.. is this only going to show dead ones because I want to able to see celebrities that are alive like the kardashians lol

[@tjwhite1963]

Accuracy? ...

[@randyh801]

All of the data is based purely on the FamilySearch Family Tree. If the common ancestor is in the 1600's or 1500's, there a higher chance that there is an error somewhere in the connection. However, once you've gone back that far, chances are that within one or two more generations, there will be one or more additional connections.

[@tjwhite1963]

@@randyh801 thanks. Yes, I'm aware of all of this. In fact, in looking at several of my supposed "relationships" to famous people, I find repeated errors scattered here and there which negate said relationships entirely. So, my comment was rhetorical. I seriously question any value at all in a tool such as this, based as it is on highly questionable data.