Jewish Genealogy: A Quick Online Guide
Find out how to get information about your Jewish roots. Links to vital records, Holocaust resources, name origins, and Jewish genealogy collections.
Vital records
Birth, death, immigration, census, military service, civil marriage, and school records.
| Resource | Description | How to use |
| Ancestrylibrary.com | Comprehensive genealogy site for vital records, especially U.S. sources; includes some scanned documents | Search for individuals by name; add dates, places and other details to refine search. |
| JewishGen | Comprehensive, global Jewish genealogy site with databases, town sites, yizkor book translations, and research groups. | Search databases for names and places, research towns, and register to connect with similar researchers. |
| SephardicGen/JewishGen Sephardic Genealogy | Comprehensive global site arranged by country, family name, topic. Includes information on Inquisition archives and numerous links. | Search by name, country, or topic. |
| Stephen Morse One-Step | Search tools/shortcuts for finding vital records, and navigating calendars, maps, foreign alphabets and soundex. | Choose topics and enter data. |
Holocaust
Find information about individuals, communities, and their fate during the Holocaust.
| Resource | Description | How to use |
| International Tracing Service | Center for documentation, information and research on Nazi persecution, forced labor and the Holocaust. | Search inventories online; submit forms to request information. |
| United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Includes exhibitions, research resources, educational programs and resources, leadership training and commemorations. | Search databases, find resources for survivors and victims, explore research and educational resources. |
| Yad Vashem - Central Database of Shoah Victims Names | World center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust. | Search for names and places of Shoah (Holocaust) victims; submit information. Automated translations. |
| Yizkor Books Online | 700 yizkor books from NYPL and the Yiddish Book Center. | Search by town or city name. |
| Yizkor Book Project (JewishGen) | Bibliographic database and translations of yizkor books. | Search by town or city name, country and region, check necrology database. |
Name Origins
| Author | Title |
| Beider, Alexander | A dictionary of Ashkenazic given names: their origins, structure, pronunciation, and migrations |
| Beider, Alexander | A dictionary of Jewish surnames from Galicia A dictionary of Jewish surnames from the Kingdom of Poland A dictionary of Jewish surnames from the Russian Empire |
| Faiguenboim, Guilherme, Valadares, Paulo Campagnano, Anna Rosa |
Dicionário sefaradi de sobrenomes : inclusive cristãos novos, conversos, marranos, italianos, berberes e sua história na Espanha, Portugal e Itália = Dictionary of Sephardic surnames : including Christianized Jews, Conversos, Marranos, Italians, Berbers, and their history in Spain, Portugal and Italy |
| Ackman-Ziff Family Genealogy Institute | Reference Books on Jewish names (PDF) |
| Avotaynu | Consolidated Jewish Surname Index (online database) |
Jewish Genealogy Collections
| Name | Focus |
| Ackman-Ziff Family Genealogy Institute | Jewish genealogy resources at the Center for Jewish History, serving the
|
| American Jewish Archives | American Jewish history and archives, including genealogy resources |
| Avotaynu | Jewish genealogy (online resource and print publications) |
| Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (Jerusalem) | Jewish history and genealogy |
| International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) | Jewish genealogy |
| JewishGen | Jewish genealogy, vital records, regional genealogy, yizkor books |
| Jewish Historical Institute (ZIH) | Polish Jewry, including genealogy |
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Comments
Jewish Genealogy Portal on Geni.com
Submitted by Randol Schoenberg (not verified) on September 3, 2015 - 1:23pm
Where to donate two volumes of family research and tree?
Submitted by Carol Milgram (not verified) on May 24, 2021 - 11:26am