Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute Frequently Asked Questions

1. What does the Center have about my family?
2. What does the Center have about my ancestral town?
3. Does the Center have an online catalog?
4. How do I learn what genealogical sources are available at the Center?
5. Can Genealogy Institute staff and volunteers research my family for me?
6. What Sephardic materials are available at the Center?
7. How do I start my family history research?
8. Can I find my family tree on the Internet?
9. What does my family name mean?
10. How do I learn where my ancestors came from?
11. I know the name of my ancestral town, but I do not know where it is. How do I find it?
12. How do I get genealogical records from countries outside the U.S.?

1. What does the Center have about my family?

The Center for Jewish History is home to over 100 million archival documents and a half million books, distributed among the archives and libraries of the partner organizations. These include family histories, memoirs, correspondence, personal papers of prominent and less well-known individuals, and records of communal, cultural, political and professional organizations. Among these sources are many documents with information about individuals and families.

Many of the documents and books at the Center are in languages other than English, such as Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, German, Russian, Spanish, French, and Hungarian. Most of the document groups are not indexed or catalogued by family name, but it is possible to identify records about individuals and families. Please see our FAQ on finding genealogical resources at the Center (FAQ #4) to learn how to identify sources for your family history research. You may also download and print our fact sheets, which describe the genealogical resources at the Center.

While the Center does not have ship passenger manifests, U.S. census records, U.S. vital records, or most U.S. naturalization records and European vital records, we do provide access to many such records through our electronic resources and our microfilm loan program. To learn more about those kinds of records, see our fact sheets.

2. What does the Center have about my ancestral town?

Among the collections at the Center are many sources from or about Jewish communities worldwide. These include encyclopedias, yizkor books, landsmanshaft records, newspapers, memoirs, and records of communal, cultural, political and professional organizations. Many of these records are in languages other than English, such as Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, German, Russian, Spanish, French, and Hungarian. Please see our FAQ on finding genealogical resources at the Center (FAQ #4) to learn how to identify sources for your town.

3. Does the Center have an online catalog?

Yes! CJH has an integrated catalog that will help you find books, archival collections, selected images, and online databases.

4. How do I learn what genealogical sources are available at the Center?

To learn what sources are available at the Center, consult our fact sheets and our online catalog.

5. Can Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute staff and volunteers research my family for me?

Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute staff and volunteers will be happy to guide you to appropriate resources, but we cannot do your family history research for you. After consulting our fact sheets, you are welcome to visit the Center or to write us a specific inquiry.

6. What Sephardic materials are available at the Center?

Sephardic resources at the Center can be found in the collections of the American Sephardi Federation (ASF), and also in the other Center partner organizations. The American Sephardi Federation began collecting books and archival materials in 1999, and the collection continues to grow. You may consult our fact sheets on ASF and Sephardic Resources, and search our online catalog for Sephardic materials.

7. How do I start my family history research?

See our fact sheet on Starting Your Family History Research. Each family is unique, so it is difficult to provide suggestions that apply to everyone. If none of our fact sheets are relevant to your family, you are welcome to e-mail us and we will try to provide some helpful advice. You are also welcome to attend one of our genealogy workshops for beginners.

8. Can I find my family tree on the Internet?

Most family trees are not on the Internet. There are several places, however, where some family trees or connections to other researchers can be found.

Family Tree of the Jewish People : This database consists of family trees that individual researchers have chosen to share with others. It is not an all-encompassing family tree of all Jews everywhere. To search this database, you must be registered with JewishGen. For security and privacy reasons, dates are not included for living people, nor is the name of the submitter provided; however, you may contact him/her by sending a message using the provided link.

JewishGen Family Finder : This is a database of genealogists with the surnames and towns they are researching. An exact spelling or soundex search may be made for a specific name, town, or both. The results give the researcher's name and contact information The most useful results will be obtained by searching both the name and town, unless the name is unusual or the town small. You must also be registered with JewishGen to search this database.

WorldConnect Project : Genealogists from a variety of backgrounds have posted their family trees here.

Personal Web Pages : Some families have created web pages containing genealogical information. To search for these, simply enter the surname you are researching into a search engine (Google, Alta Vista, etc).

Commercial Web Sites : The Center currently subscribes to Ancestry Library Edition, which includes family tree databases. Other vendors like Genealogy.com also have family trees.

9. What does my family name mean?

Most Ashkenazi families adopted surnames between 1780 and 1850. Jews living in Frankfurt and Prague and many Sephardic families used surnames much earlier. Some surnames were based on patronymics, matronymics, occupations, physical characteristics, or places of origin. Others were words borrowed from the Bible or other Jewish literature. The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute has several reference works on Jewish names.

10. How do I learn the names of the towns my ancestors came from?

To identify the towns your ancestors were from, please see our fact sheets on Starting Your Family History Research, Immigration, Naturalization, and Census Records. Other suggestions are available at JewishGen.org. Besides the name, it is helpful to obtain additional identifying information about the town. What type of industry or trade took place there? What languages were spoken? Was it near any rivers, forests, or borders? What larger city was it near? Interviewing relatives is the best way to find out this information.

For ancestors who immigrated to countries other than the United States , see our fact sheets on those countries to find out if there are any census, naturalization, or immigration records available. Geographically-based Special Interest Groups are also excellent sources of information.

11. I know the name of my ancestral town, but I do not know where it is. How do I find it?

Please see our fact sheet on Finding Your Ancestral Town.

12. How do I get genealogical records from countries outside the U.S.?

Our country-by-country fact sheets and reference books like the Avotaynu Guide to Jewish Genealogy and Jeffrey S. Malka’s Sephardic Genealogy (both available at the Genealogy Institute) provide information on how to obtain foreign records.

Many such records have been microfilmed by the Church of Latter-day Saints (LDS, or Mormons). The Genealogy Institute administers a microfilm loan agreement with the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, so that researchers can order microfilmed international vital records through the Institute and study the films at the Center. To learn which records have been microfilmed, consult the online Family History Library catalog. Please keep in mind that these microfilms are copies of original records, mostly handwritten in languages other than English.