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Enter your ancestor's information to generate targeted search links across all major Italian ancestry archives worldwide simultaneously.
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Build Your Family Tree
Click any box to add a family member. Build up to four generations of your Italian ancestry family history.
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The Italian Emigrant Regions
Explore the regions and towns where people worldwide trace their Italian roots. Select a region, then a town to see it on the map.
Select a Region to Begin
Choose a region to see it on the map and explore the towns your ancestors may have called home.
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Stories, discoveries, and guides from the Italian ancestry research community
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Homeland Visits
Photographs and stories from people visiting their ancestral towns in Sicily, Calabria, and beyond
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Visited your ancestral town in Italy? Share your photographs and experience.
Italian Ancestry Research Guide
A step-by-step approach to tracing your Italian roots
Start in Your Country of Settlement
Begin with records from the country your ancestors settled in before searching Italy. Census records, naturalization papers, death certificates, and immigration records in the US, Australia, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil often list the exact Italian town of origin — the key to unlocking Italian archives. FamilySearch has many of these for free.
Find the Arrival Record
Most Italian emigrants left a paper trail when they arrived in their new country. US arrivals through Ellis Island (1892–1954), Australian passenger lists, and Canadian immigration records all list the passenger's hometown in Italy. Ship manifests after 1906 are especially detailed — use the Steve Morse One-Step Search for US arrivals, or the National Archives for Australian and Canadian records.
Identify the Italian Town
Once you have the town name, search Portale Antenati (antenati.cultura.gov.it) for civil records 1809–1865. For records after 1866, search FamilySearch for your specific province's civil records, or contact the Comune (town hall) directly.
Search Italian Civil Records
Italian civil records (stato civile) began in 1809. Birth records (nati) list parents' names and ages. Marriage records (matrimoni) list both families. Look for the annual alphabetical index at the front of each register to find the right page number.
Go Beyond Civil Records
Parish registers (registri parrocchiali) predate civil records and can trace families back to the 1500s–1600s in Calabria and Sicily. These are held at local churches and are not always digitized. Consider hiring a local genealogist through ItalianSide.com.
Contact Shelley
Questions, research help, document submissions, or just want to connect?
Shelley Livingston
Italian ancestry researcher with a focus on Calabrian and Sicilian families who emigrated to the US, Australia, Canada, Argentina and beyond in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Shelley typically responds within a few days.
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Plan Your Ancestral Journey
Everything you need to plan a meaningful trip to southern Italy — visiting the towns, archives, and landscapes your ancestors left behind.