Ancestry: Discover the Stories That Connect You to the Past
Discover how Ancestry helps you explore family history build your family tree uncover historical records and learn more about your origins through AncestryDNA.
Your Family Story Starts With a Question
Who were your ancestors? Where did your family come from? What experiences shaped the generations before you?
These questions can turn family history into a fascinating journey of discovery. Ancestry brings together historical records family trees and DNA insights to help people explore their heritage and build a deeper understanding of where they come from.
Build Your Family Tree
One of the most engaging ways to explore genealogy is by creating a family tree. Ancestry provides tools that help you organize information about parents grandparents great-grandparents and earlier generations.
As you add names and details historical records can help you investigate connections and uncover additional information about your relatives. The platform says its collection includes billions of historical records and millions of family trees.
Explore Historical Records

Family history becomes more meaningful when names are connected to real documents and events.
Depending on the location and collection genealogy research can involve records such as census documents birth and marriage records immigration information military documents obituaries photographs and other historical sources.
These records can help transform a basic family tree into a richer story about the people behind each branch.
Discover More With AncestryDNA
For people interested in genetic genealogy AncestryDNA provides another way to explore family origins.
According to Ancestry its DNA service can provide information about ancestral regions DNA matches and family connections. It currently describes results spanning more than 3600 places around the world.
DNA and traditional genealogy can complement one another: historical records can provide documentary evidence while DNA matches can offer additional clues about biological relationships.
More Than Names on a Family Tree
Genealogy isn't simply about collecting names and dates. It's also about understanding the journeys that shaped families.
Migration changing occupations military service marriages communities and major historical events can all become part of a family's story. Ancestry's tools are designed to help users connect these pieces and preserve discoveries for future generations.
Technology Meets Family History
Ancestry has developed from its origins as a family-history publishing company into a digital platform for genealogy and consumer genomics. Its history dates back to 1983 while Ancestry.com launched online in 1996.

Today the company describes its resources as combining historical records family trees DNA data and technology to help people explore their past.
Preserving Stories for the Future
Family discoveries become even more valuable when they're shared.
Old photographs documents names memories and stories can easily disappear when they aren't preserved. Creating a family tree and documenting discoveries can give future generations a starting point for understanding their own history.
Ancestry also operates resources and brands focused on areas such as historical newspapers military records gravesite information professional genealogy research and preserving memories.
A Journey Into Your Own History
Every family has stories that haven't been fully told. Some may be hidden in historical documents while others may live in photographs family memories or DNA connections.
Ancestry brings these different pieces together to make genealogy more accessible and interactive. Whether you're building your first family tree or researching generations of ancestors the journey can reveal new connections between the past and the present.
Final Thoughts
Family history is ultimately about people—their journeys relationships challenges achievements and the lives they passed forward.
With historical records family-tree tools and AncestryDNA Ancestry provides multiple ways to explore those stories and preserve them for generations to come.
