7 Free Websites to Help You Find Your Caribbean Ancestors

June is National Caribbean American Heritage Month. While the Caribbean encompasses many cultures and languages, there are resources to help you find with your Caribbean family tree research!

National Caribbean American Heritage Month History

National Caribbean American Heritage Month began in 2005 to promote the culture and history of the Caribbean people and their significance to the country.  

According to the Census Bureau, as of 2018, there were over 13 million people with Caribbean heritage in the US. The largest groups are:

• Puerto Ricans (5.7 million)

• Cubans (2.3 million)

• Dominican (2 million)

• Jamaican (1.1 million)

• Haitian (1 million)

There are about 7,000 islands in the Caribbean, some of which are uninhabited. Some, like Cuba and the Dominican Republic, are sovereign states. Others, like Saint Lucia, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica are commonwealth realms or territories.

7 websites to help your Caribbean genealogy research:

The Caribbean Genealogy Library

Yes, there is an actual Caribbean Genealogy Library! Located in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, the library has online resources like passenger lists, funeral booklets, and Danish West Indies documents. They also take email inquiries.

CaribbeanGenWeb

The CarribbeanGenWeb is part of the WorldGenWeb. The site has resources organized by island, along with general suggestions on tackling Caribbean genealogy research.

Candoo

Candoo says its last update was in 2011, but it’s still a great reference for those researching Caribbean family trees. It has resources organized by island, including libraries and archives and helpful links.

Genealogia Nuestra

Genealogia Nuestra has records from many different islands, such as church records. It also has helpful articles on researching in this region, DNA, and more.

Caribbean Genealogy Facebook Group

This Facebook group is for sharing resources and helping with research on Caribbean ancestry.

FamilySearch Caribbean Wiki

FamilySearch’s wiki for the Caribbean covers resources available for many of the islands, including helpful resources like how to read handwriting Spanish records.

Lowcountry Africana

For those with roots in South Carolina, where many people from Barbados settled – free and enslaved – Lowcountry Africana shares print and online sources to help your research.

Do you have any other suggestions for Caribbean genealogy websites? Please share in the comments!