Weak Things · Family history data · 1894 to 2026
Every name, counted.
In 1894 a small society in Salt Lake City began gathering records so families could find their dead. Today FamilySearch holds nearly 17 billion searchable names and a single shared tree of almost two billion people. Here is how it grew, and what it means for your own line.
Totals are from FamilySearch’s company facts as of October 2026. Sources are listed in How we counted.
Chapter 1 · 2, 4, 8, 16…
How many ancestors do you have?
Every generation back doubles. Ten generations back gives you 1,024 ancestors in a single row, most of them born in the 1700s. Enter your birth year and slide back through time.
The calculator assumes 28 years a generation and counts each ancestor once. In real families, cousins marry and the same person appears in more than one place, so the count of different people is smaller far back.
Chapter 2 · October 2026
FamilySearch today
The numbers behind the free site run by the Church: names that can be searched, images of original records, people in the shared tree, sources attached to them, and the centers where volunteers help in person.
Chapter 3 · 1.1B to 1.96B
One shared tree
Instead of each family keeping its own copy, FamilySearch keeps one tree that everyone edits. It passed a billion people by 2015 and is nearing two billion.
Chapter 4 · 6,665 centers
Help in person
Behind the website are thousands of FamilySearch centers, most in Church meetinghouses, plus the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, where volunteers help anyone look for their family for free.
Chapter 5 · Every minute
How fast it grows
Spread 2025’s additions evenly across the year and they become a running meter. The counter starts when you open this page.
Chapter 6 · 3,000 to 4.7 million
The biggest family history gathering
RootsTech began in Salt Lake City in 2011 with 3,000 people. When it went online and free during the pandemic, attendance jumped to more than a million. It now draws millions from more than 230 countries and territories each year.
Chapter 7 · 1938 to 2017
From microfilm to the cloud
Starting in 1938, camera operators filmed parish registers, censuses and wills around the world. The films went into a vault in a granite mountain. Since 1998 the work has been digital, and the films themselves have been scanned.
Chapter 8 · Nearly 2 billion records
Reading old handwriting by machine
Most record images were never indexed by hand. Full-Text Search, announced at RootsTech 2024, uses artificial intelligence to transcribe handwriting so any word on a page can be searched.
How we counted
Sources and notes
- RootsTech. 2011 and 2020 from Church Newsroom, 2021 and Deseret News; 2021 from Church Newsroom; 2024 from FamilySearch; 2025 from the RootsTech 2025 recap; classes and languages from Church News, 2025.
- Totals. From FamilySearch company facts, October 2026, and FamilySearch 2025 highlights.
- Family Tree. Year-end tree sizes from FamilySearch’s 2025 statistics for members, with the current total from company facts.
- History. From Digitizing the Records in the Granite Mountain, About FamilySearch, Church History Topics, Church News, November 2019 and the Genealogical Society of Utah article.
- Full text. From FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search: A Powerful Tool.
- Pace. The running meter divides 2025’s additions evenly across 365 days.
- What the numbers can't say. A count shows size, pace and reach. It cannot measure faith, service or a changed heart. For those, read, serve and see.
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