The FamilySearch Blog had a busy year in 2023—we published nearly 200 genealogy articles in English and hundreds more in other languages! We covered various topics, including weekly new records, the ever-growing RootsTech conference, and heritage topics such as recipes, history, and more.
We hope you enjoyed all of the content from FamilySearch's free genealogy blog this year! In case you missed any of it, we've gathered together some of the highlights from 2023.
Top 10 Visited FamilySearch Articles of 2023
Although not all of these top 10 articles were published this year, they drew the largest number of views. How many of these articles do you recognize? If you see a new one on this list, give it a read—maybe you’ll see why it was so popular!
- Cousin Chart—Family Relationships Explained
- Find Your Doppelganger: Do You Have a Look-Alike?
- What Is a Second Cousin?
- Top Tips to Find an Obituary for a Specific Person
- Discover your Family Crest or Coat of Arms
- 11 Traditional English Foods and Recipes
- Find Your Ancestors in the Family Tree
- Free Printable Family Tree Templates
- Discover Your Ancestors in Historical Records
- Famous Relatives: Discover Your Notable Connections
Top 10 FamilySearch Articles Published in 2023
Do you have a favorite FamilySearch blog article that was published in 2023? Maybe you’ll find it on this list! According to the FamilySearch blog page views, the following list shows the most popular articles that were published this year:
- Chat with Other FamilySearch Users
- Jordin Sparks: Family Brings Me Back to Center
- Updated and Redesigned FamilySearch Help
- New Records on FamilySearch 1 May 2023
- New Records on FamilySearch 24 September 2023
- New Records on FamilySearch 23 July 2023
- German Culture, Traditions, and Values
- Sean Astin's Thoughts on Family History
- Early America: Life in the Early United States
- Request a Copy of a Patriarchal Blessing Online
The Best How-To Articles of 2023
Several FamilySearch articles published in 2023 were designed to teach FamilySearch users some techniques that could help them in their family history work. Whether you're new to FamilySearch or have been using FamilySearch for a while, here are a few of the best how-to articles of 2023. Don’t miss checking them out yourself!
Give these how-to articles a look! You might learn something new about how to use the FamilySearch Family Tree!
FamilySearch’s article on Why a Free FamilySearch Account is a Great Idea shows just how easy it is to set up a free account on FamilySearch. Try sharing this article with friends and family to help them join the genealogy fun! You can even set up a Family Group to make it easy for you all to collaborate.
Did you know you can do exactly that? Your Impact: See How Your Efforts with Get Involved Have Helped Others will tell you more about how the time you've dedicated to indexing has made a difference.
Look no further than New Sign-In Options for FamilySearch—Facebook, Google, and Apple. This article will give you all the information you need to quickly link your sign-ins.
FamilySearch’s Globetrotting Genealogy Articles of 2023
Oftentimes, a genealogy journey begins with a deceptively simple question: where do I come from? This question can have many answers, but one that’s almost always at the top is a person’s ancestral homeland—the land their ancestors lived in, died in, and ultimately moved from to seek new opportunities for their families.
FamilySearch took many strides this year to connect more people with their cultural heritage. Here’s a few examples!
FamilySearch Country Features
The FamilySearch Cultural Identity page saw several updates this year. Four new countries were added to its catalog, representing a breadth of new cultural heritage articles for FamilySearch users to discover. The following are the FamilySearch Country Feature pages that were added in 2023:
Immigration Content
Immigration records are one of the best ways to discover where and when your family moved from one country to another.
FamilySearch’s blog featured several immigration articles this year to give you advice and guidance on discovering your ancestor’s immigration records. Featured countries included Canada, Brazil, Mexico, France, and more!
Heritage Travel Highlights
Once you’ve discovered your ancestors’ homeland, you may consider a heritage travel vacation in order to further connect with your predecessors.
At the end of 2023, FamilySearch began a series of articles to provide advice and guidance for your heritage travel experience. Check out our heritage travel article on London, and be ready for more travel pieces on the horizon very soon!
Featuring FamilySearch’s Work in Genealogy Records
FamilySearch is always busy digitizing new records and helping to make records from all over the world more searchable. “Montana Digitizing in Acceleration Mode” highlights one example of the incredible volunteers FamilySearch has the opportunity to work with.
In addition to feature articles on stories like digitization work in Montana, the FamilySearch blog also published record updates each week of 2023 to announce the addition of new records to our extensive collections. Every week, you can see these record updates by visiting the FamilySearch Blog home page, the “What’s New” category, or the “Genealogy Records” category.
Were you looking for a particular record collection this year? Here were the top 3 most visited record collection announcement articles of 2023:
FamilySearch’s 2023 Genealogist Spotlights
In 2023, the FamilySearch blog featured many different genealogists’ stories. These stories were as varied as they were inspiring. Here are a few for you to consider!
RootsTech 2023
RootsTech 2023 was an incredible success, with over 3 million attendees, and it included such keynote speakers as Sean Astin, Me Ra Koh, and His Highness Sheikh Salem bin Sultan bin Saqr Al-Qasimi. Their keynote addresses, as well as others, are still available to view online to view or share!
And, speaking of RootsTech—did you know you can already register for RootsTech 2024? The theme for RootsTech 2024 is “Remember.” Read more about what that means and the significance of remembrance in The Power of Remembering, an article that highlights the making of a short RootsTech video on this year's theme.
Articles for Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Nestled in the FamilySearch Blog’s categories is the “Temple and Family History” category, which is filled with articles meant to help members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These articles feature member stories, church history, and other topics that are inspiring and helpful.
The following are a few highlights from 2023:
- Meet Trevor: 8-Year-Old Genealogist highlights the story of how a young boy’s interest in family history was sparked—and the genealogy wildfire that spread to his family and friends.
- How to Request a Copy of Your Ancestor's Patriarchal Blessing explains how you can receive a copy of your direct ancestor’s patriarchal blessing, as well as why you may want to do so.
- New Ancestor View for the Church History Biographical Database shares information on an exciting new feature that allows you to see what early Latter-day Saints are your ancestors, as well as a depth of information about them, based on information in the FamilySearch Family Tree.
The FamilySearch Blog’s Mission
FamilySearch Blog articles and the FamilySearch site aim to help people connect to their families. We hope you continue to use our free resources to learn about your ancestors, strengthen bonds within your own family, and maybe even meet new family members.
Thank you so much for being a reader of our blog in 2023! We hope see you in 2024 and beyond as you take part in the FamilySearch blog, build your family tree, and continue your family history journey.
At FamilySearch, we care about connecting you with your family, and we provide fun discovery experiences and family history services for free. Why? Because we cherish families and believe that connecting generations can improve our lives now and forever. We are a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To learn more about our beliefs, click here.
