Your family has stories
you haven’t heard.
Start with a name. We’ll search the records for the lives, journeys, and surprises hidden in your family tree.
We do the research for you.
- Search records for your family.We look for census entries, obituaries, and other records that name your relatives.
- Sort out people with the same name.We compare ages, places, spouses, and children to narrow down the matches.
- Show you why a connection fits.You get the sources, the conflicting details, and a choice about what goes into your tree.
A little of what you know.
A lot more to discover.
You bring the names and family clues. Threadravel helps follow them through the records.
Start with your people.
Add yourself, a parent, or a grandparent. Have a family tree already? Import a GEDCOM file in the tree workspace.
Let the research unfold.
Ask us to find parents or explore someone’s life. We search, compare candidates, and bring back findings for you to review.
See where they take you.
Grow your tree, inspect the evidence, and explore the places and historical events around your family’s lives.
Learn history
through a life.
A town on an old trade route. A family that followed the railroad. The familiar name with an unfamiliar past.
Ravelpedia connects individual lives to the wider history. There’s something to read while your next search is running.
Explore the libraryLess searching on your own.
More following your curiosity.
Research help, a growing family tree, and historical reading in one place.
| When you want to… | Threadravel helps you… |
|---|---|
| Get past a name and a date | Look for family connections, occupations, places, and details of a life. |
| Make sense of conflicting records | Compare possibilities and see the evidence behind a proposed connection. |
| Use what your family already knows | Bring family clues and documents into the research conversation. |
| Understand the world they lived in | Read connected histories of communities, journeys, and migrations. |
A few things before you start.
Do I need to know much about my family?
No. Start with one person. A birthplace, an approximate year, or a parent’s name can help distinguish your family from people with similar names. You can add details later.
Is it free?
You can start building your tree for free. Research uses credits, with the cost shown before you begin. You can read Ravelpedia without spending research credits.
What if a connection is uncertain?
Research findings come with evidence to review. A possible match stays a possibility until you choose how to use it. You can bring more evidence, correct a detail, or keep looking.
Will everyone find a famous ancestor?
No, and a worthwhile story doesn’t require one. Work, migration, family names, and everyday lives can be just as interesting. What we find depends on the records that survive and are available.