Do you have French ancestry? Geneanet’s rich collections includes many not found elsewhere, contributed by members of our community. And our forums are a great place to get help tracking down your French ancestors!
Geneanet is the biggest French genealogy database, and it’s the right place to start your French family history research! Break your brick walls in France with Geneanet’s collections and community.
The Geneanet genealogy database contains 8 billion individuals, 1.7 million family trees, over half a million historical books and newspapers, more than 600,000 vintage postcards, and much more. And Geneanet’s 5 million members are a vibrant community ready to help you in your research!
Geneanet has a rich array of resources for French genealogy:
Family Trees
Genealogists have shared 1.7 million family trees in the Geneanet database. Feel free to contact tree owners if you find common ancestors!
Start a tree at Geneanet from scratch, or upload a GEDCOM file to get started — our Help section has instructions for all the major platforms. There is no limit on tree size for free members, and you get 1 Gb of storage for your documents and photos! And if you choose Premium membership, you will have 10 Gb available, more than enough for even the largest trees.
As you know, you should always verify data provided by genealogy researchers – don’t just copy & paste. Many Geneanet trees are carefully researched and have reference information about source documents in French which are usually available free on the websites of the Archives Départementales (every département in France manages its archives, the way states or counties do in other countries). Often, a Geneanet tree can point you to the correct département your French ancestor was from.
Geneanet Collections
French genealogists have shared digitized records and indexes: parish and civil vital records, censuses, notarial records, military records, family pictures, vintage postcards, pictures of graves, etc. Don’t forget the Tables Décennales, key resources for locating your people!
You can search these records by French département or by an individual’s name in the collaborative index.
If you have some free time, consider contributing to our collaborative projects such as the New York City Geographic Birth Index or the Filles du Roy collaborative tree, honoring the 17th century mothers in Québec of over 20 million people in North America today!
Save our Graves
In Europe, churchyard and village cemeteries are small and grave plot concessions expire every day, with old graves dug up for new ones. Our Save our Graves project aims to document graves before they disappear and offers a free app to help you upload photos from your local cemetery! And if your ancestor fought in the World Wars and was buried in France, it’s quite possible a Geneanet volunteer has photographed the grave.
Genealogy Society Indexes
Many French family history societies have shared their indexes on Geneanet so you can search for your French ancestors in more than 57 million records!
The Genealogy Library
Nearly 4 billion names are indexed in over 600,000 books and 30,000 historical newspaper titles, some of which have over 10,000 editions. With our affordable Premium membership, you can easily search for your French ancestors and browse the digitized images.
Our blog: Genealogy news & tips
Don’t miss our blog with articles about genealogy news, tips for using Geneanet, resources for researching genealogy by country, and more!
Geneastar
Check out the genealogies of the movers and shakers, the actors and actresses, the inventors and adventurers: famous people from the worlds of entertainment, the arts, literature, politics, history, sports… In most cases, these trees were built by Geneanet members who are related to the famous person. Perhaps you are, too!
Postcards
Visit your ancestor’s village! Search our vintage Postcards collection: over 600,000 images, with more uploaded daily by Geneanet members. And not just in France, either! You can link a postcard to your tree and Geneanet even shows you postcards from places you’ve entered in your tree. And don’t miss our Now and Then series, side-by-side images of a vintage postcard and a modern photo!
Questions? Visit our forums! Or, if you are a Premium member, open a support ticket!
3/13/23
looking for info on Vokey family. I have info of Philip Vokey 1704 but can’t fine any info since.
3/1/23
I am looking for any information on an ancestor Gabriel Jones Puryear born in Alsace France around 1648 any records birth, death, parents acc. Is there a phone number to call someone in Alsace France to get any information also. Thanks
Answer from Geneanet: The best approach is to post in the France section of our forums, you will get answers to your questions there!
2/21/23
For some reason when I try to update Reinhold (RL) (Slim) Heckenlaible last name correctly I get a error, UPDATE FAILED: UNKNOWN Person ?.0 ?. Please fix error. Harry
Answer from Geneanet: Please visit our forum for assistance or, if you are a Premium member, open a support ticket directly.
2/20/23
I am researching the surname of GUION, who were French Huguenots, and some settled in New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York
2/20/23
I am searching for Louis GUION and Anne Thomasse FORRESTIERE,
2/18/23
I am searching for the link between the JOYES in France and the JOYES in England. Help, please…
2/18/23
Are my Dumond ancestors French?
2/18/23
The name EDWARD BARRY appears as the husband of Anna Mathilde HEMPEL There are several different men recorded, The only known fact is his Birth Date of Aug 06. (Year Unknown But presumed to be 1881 -2). He ismy Grandfather and is the only known data held.