5 Things to Do With “Relatives at RootsTech” (2024)

If you have previously attended a RootsTech Conference and have only given the Relatives at RootsTech feature a passing glance, it is time to get serious about checking it out.

Relatives at RootsTech will only be available until 31 March 2024, and you will not want to miss out on the cousin connections you could make!

What is Relatives at RootsTech?

Relatives at RootsTech is a fun and popular feature of the RootsTech Conference that matches up registered conference attendees by comparing ancestor names on their FamilySearch Family Trees. When a common ancestor is found, both attendees are shown each other’s names and their possible relationship.

To participate in Relatives at RootsTech, you need to be registered as a conference attendee. Registration for the virtual conference is free, so even if you do not plan to attend in person, you can still participate in Relatives at RootsTech.

How to Participate

Getting started with Relatives at RootsTech is easy.

1. As noted above you must be registered for the RootsTech conference to participate in Relatives at RootsTech.
2. Check the box to join Relatives at RootsTech. If you decide later that this feature is not for you, then you can opt out later.
3. Make sure you have added your family tree to the FamilySearch Family Tree. If you are a new user, you may need to add yourself and your most recent ancestors in order to connect to the tree.
4. Visit the Relatives at RootsTech page or the FamilySearch Family Tree mobile app to view your relatives and how you are related.

Getting the Most Out of Relatives at RootsTech

Since your time for using Relatives at RootsTech is limited, you will want to get the most out of it while you can. Here are a few things you should do while the tool is still available.

1. View Your Close Matches

I am always excited to see how close the cousin relationships will be each year at RootsTech, probably because I am from a small family. Finding new cousins – especially close cousin matches – is a pretty big deal for me. So far this year, my closest cousin relationship is a 3C1R on my paternal side.

When you find a match of interest, click the Relationship link to find out how you are related. Keep in mind that these estimated relationships are only as accurate as the trees from which they came. As we say in our house, “Trust but verify.”

To contact your match, click the Chat link. Some people may be skeptical about messages from people they don’t know, so try to say something meaningful about your connection. A message that says nothing more than, “Hi, cousin!” will probably not get a response.

To save your match for later reference, click the Contact link. This will save your match to your FamilySearch contacts, which you can access by clicking Contacts under your profile picture. You will still be able to view the image of how you are related.

2. Use Filters to Find Specific Relationships

Relatives at RootsTech makes it easy to analyze your connections with filters.

• By Maternal or Paternal – This will filter your matches based on their relationship to your mother’s or your father’s line. You can also use this filter to narrow your matches By Location (see below). Note: This filter is very helpful for finding matches on ancestral lines with few descendants. It may not make a difference in your research, but it certainly narrows the list of matches for mine. As of today, I have only ZERO matches on my maternal side!
• By Location – Looking for relatives in a specific country? Try filtering By Location, which will show in what part of the world your cousin matches live. However, if your match listed only a country like “United States” (as 192 of my matches have done so far) this filter will not help you find relatives in a particular state.
• By Ancestor – A quick way to see to which ancestors your matches are related is to use the By Ancestor filter. Select the ancestor’s name from the drop-down box to find out who matches you via that ancestor. This filter is also useful for weeding out matches through incorrect ancestor links on the FamilySearch Family Tree.
• By Family Line – New this year (I think) is the ability to filter By Family Line. Select the name of your parent or grandparent from the drop-down box to find out which of your matches are related to that line. If your parent or grandparent isn’t listed in the drop-down, it means there are no matches on that line yet. For example, I currently have one match on my maternal grandfather’s line, and ZERO matches on my maternal grandmother’s line.
• Search Attendees – Depending on the name an attendee used when registering, this filter may or may not be helpful. For example, an attendee who uses a fake name like “EuropeanAmerican,” as one of my matches did last year, will not be found using this filter. But do give it a try anyway.

3. Screenshot the Relationships

Once you have sorted and filtered your cousins, you will likely have found a few with whom you will want to correspond. Be sure to add these relatives to your contacts list before Relatives at RootsTech goes away.

You should also take a screenshot of your list of RootsTech relatives, as well as the important relationships, so you can remember to contact these cousins in the future. If you have their user names, you will be able to search for them in the notifications search bar to send a message at a later date.

4. Add New Relatives to Your Genealogy Database

Your relative relationships will be saved as part of the overall FamilySearch Family Tree, but it is unlikely that you will be able to find them again. The Family Tree only shows living persons in your own tree and does not show living persons in other people’s trees. Since your RootsTech Relatives are currently living, they will not show up in your tree.

If you have time during the conference, or if you made screenshots of the relationships (see above), you can add these people and their family lines to your genealogy database software for future reference.

5. Check For DNA Matches

If you have taken a DNA test for genetic genealogy research, you will want to search the DNA databases for your new relatives (assuming they used the same name for their RootsTech registration as they did for their DNA test). If you are unable to find them, don’t be shy about contacting them during the conference to ask if – and where – they have tested.

If a relative has not yet taken a test, you may want to make contact to encourage your relative to do so. Targeted testing is an important part of genetic genealogy research, and Relatives at RootsTech may provide you with important new, er, targets.

Be sure to visit our Resources page for discounts and sales on DNA kits.

Limitations of Relatives at RootsTech

It is important to remember that Relatives at RootsTech is only as accurate as the ancestor relationships in the FamilySearch Family Tree. And unfortunately, there are many inaccuracies in the tree. For example, a good portion of my matches are people who are “related” through an incorrect parent-child connection in my paternal grandmother’s Dunn family. It is pointless for me to contact any of these people or add them to my genealogy database since I know the connection is false.

Also, Relatives at RootsTech will only show you 300 matches at a time. In other words, if you have 10,000 matches, you will only be able to see the top 300. However, you can vary the results by changing the location in Relatives By Location to see the closest 300 for each location, or by using the other filters to see 300 results based on your query. You can also view your Relatives by Ancestor, which will reveal up to 300 results for each.

Resources

• Relatives at RootsTech 2024: Find Out Who You’re Related To!
• Relatives at RootsTech FAQs
• Relatives at RootsTech – How to Use & Connect with DNA by Roberta Estes at DNAeXplained
• RootsTech FAQs
• Register for the RootsTech Conference

Wrap Up

Even if you do not plan to attend the RootsTech Conference, you should register for the free virtual event and add your family to the FamilySearch Family Tree so you can take advantage of the free research opportunity that is Relatives at RootsTech.

As the conference approaches, more people will register and more relatives will appear. Keep checking back to find out who is new!

What are YOUR favorite things to do with Relatives at RootsTech? Please share in the comments!

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