Genealogy Gift Guide
Genealogists, both professionals and hobbyists, are pretty easy to shop for. There are enough DNA tests and annual subscriptions to websites like Ancestry and Findmypast to keep a gift-giver going for many years.
But what if you want to give the genealogist in your life something different? What if they already have subscriptions and DNA tests? Well, look no further: here is my list of unusual presents perfect for the genealogist in your life.
Quick note: I do not derive any kind of financial benefit if you click on or buy from the below links because I think that kind of web tracking is creepy. But if you are in the gift-giving spirit, keep scrolling for how to support this website in non-creepy ways.
Here we go!
For the Beginner: Memberships
If your recipient is just getting started on their research journey, chances are they haven’t joined their local or national genealogical society. Genealogical societies offer events, educational programs, newsletters or journals, and even other perks like low-cost translation or research services. You can gift a membership to the genealogist’s local society or the society where the genealogist’s ancestors lived (or both!). You can search for the closest society in the United States via the National Genealogical Society, another great membership organization. (Just type in the location and choose “Society” from the dropdown menu.)
For just $15 per year, the German Genealogy Group offers regular educational programs, a newsletter, low- or no-cost translation of records in German script, and more. (I am a fan, if you couldn’t tell.) At that rate, you can spring for memberships with the Italian Genealogy Group or a local Jewish genealogical society to double or triple your gift.
Family tree software is another good option, if the genie in your life doesn’t have it. The big names in the biz are RootsMagic and FamilyTreeMaker, but if they’re a Mac user, Reunion is the best IMHO (also available from the App Store).
For the more advanced genie, you can’t go wrong with a subscription to a peer-reviewed journal. The Register and The American Genealogist are both great for New England, Mid-Atlantic, and British Isles research. The Record is all about New York families (you gotta call the society for a subscription without membership).
And of course, you can’t go wrong with a subscription to Ancestry or Findmypast. They may be cliche, but they are appreciated! (I don’t recommend DNA test kits as gifts unless your recipient has already said they want one. People tend to have very strong and personal opinions about DNA testing. Better safe than sorry.)
For Intermediate: Classes
A gift subscription to Legacy Family Tree Webinars’s library of virtual genealogy classes is the gift that keeps on giving. With new content added ALL THE TIME, your recipient could spend all of 2023 watching webinars and not run out of content.
More and more genealogical institutes—weeklong educational classes about a single subject—are going virtual. For beginners and early intermediates, Courses 1 and 2 at IGHR are excellent. (You gotta have quick fingers though, because classes fill up quickly.) Niche classes on writing, immigration, African American genealogy, and research in law libraries are all great choices. Or why not let your recipient pick their favorite?
If you are in a splurging mood and your genie is considering going pro, gift them a spot in the Boston University Genealogical Certificate Program. The course is a semester long and costs a bundle (we’re talking thousands). But if they’re seriously thinking about a career as a genealogist (and you’re sure they have the free time, cause this course is like 20 hours a week), it’s one of the best out there.
Books, Books, Books
In the curriculum for most (of the better) genealogical education programs, it is literally part of the curriculum that you build your genealogical library. In other words, genealogists like books: they buy ‘em, they read ‘em, and they love getting them as gifts. Genealogical reading material comes in two categories: instructional books and trade books for recreational reading.
For genies interested in DNA, you can’t go wrong with Genetic Genealogy in Practice by Debbie Parker Wayne and Blaine Bettinger. If they know their endogamous populations from their haplogroups, consider the follow-up, Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies. The Stranger in My Genes tells the true story of the writer’s discovery that his father was not his biological father.
Genealogy is playing a bigger and bigger role in biographies and memoirs as authors make connections between the lives and motivations of their subjects and those of past generations. Books with a genealogy focus have gone mainstream. Two of my favorites are National Book Award winner All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, which tracks the author’s ancestors’ journey to freedom as told through an heirloom passed down in her family. Whether or not your gift recipient has African American ancestry, you can’t go wrong with this book. Ditto Bess Kalb’s Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (As Told to Me) Story, a very cool memoir-biography hybrid told in the voice of Bess’s grandmother. Jessica Kirzane’s translation of Miriam Karpilove’s Diary of a Lonely Girl from Yiddish is a semi-autobiographical dramedy about Karpilove’s social life in New York City around the turn of the twentieth century. And of course, I couldn’t not mention the incredible bestseller Crying in H Mart. Michelle Zauner’s memoir is about the death of her mother, and how her relationship to her Korean heritage evolved through food and through processing her grief. (I’m not describing it very well here, but you should read it.)
To go along with your genealogist’s new book, splurge on a silk bookmark made in partnership with McNally Jackson, one of NYC’s beloved independent bookstores.
Gonzo Gifts
Okay, I hear you: you want to give something tangible that isn’t a book. How about a subscription that sends replicas of historic documents every month? Genealogists love puzzles. You can send a puzzle-per-month, each decorated with a historic front page from the New York Times. Or make a custom puzzle with an old family photograph or a picture of the landscape where the genealogist’s ancestors lived?
For library lovers, the New York Public Library designed a candle inspired by the Rose Main Reading Room. If your recipient has Irish, Italian, or Spanish ancestors, give them a whiff of home cooking with an Irish soda bread candle or a tomato-scented candle (being sure to mention that tomatoes have only been in Italy for a couple hundred years).
Consider a gift with a connection to your recipient’s ancestors. If they were woodworkers, how about a handmade wooden spoon? Or a Scottish blanket made from recycled wool? You can order a high-resolution photograph of the street where their ancestors lived (available from museums like the MCNY).
For foodies, sponsor a beehive at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, which gets your genie first dibs on the cemetery’s honey called The Sweet Hereafter(!). Or give them a historic Recipe-a-Month with replicas of recipes beloved by famous figures. If they or their ancestors were New Yorkers, they can sip coffee from a mug from Ben’s Jewish Deli or the city’s classic Greek Deli mug.
Apparel and Accessories
For genealogists from New York (or whose ancestors were from New York, or who wish they were in New York) honor the unofficial city bird with an adorable pigeon sweatshirt. For babies, this “Chapter One: I am Born” onesie is too cute (and a reminder to start those memoirs lol). And of course, nobody has too many socks (okay, fine, my exploding sock drawer may beg to differ). Most people never have too many socks, which makes these NYC subway map socks the perfect gift or stocking stuffer.
I hope this has given you LOTS of ideas for what to get the genealogist in your life this holiday season. If you’re feeling extra thankful that these links don’t have creepy tracking things attached to them that will secretly tell me if you’ve bought anything, then consider sending $3 my way to keep this website both ad- and creep-free. Thanks and happy holidays!