Travel with your ancestors
on the journey that led to you.
Travel with your ancestors on the journey that led to you.
Search our vast collection of immigration and travel records to discover your immigrant story.
Search our vast collection of immigration and travel records to discover your immigrant story.
Passenger lists document who was on a ship, where they came from and more. Make sure to keep your search broad since immigrants didn’t always depart from their homeland. These records can also help uncover your ancestors’ ultimate destination in the U.S., leading you to passport applications and naturalization records.
Didn’t find them in passenger lists? Try searching border crossings instead.
Find your family in passenger lists
Find your family in passenger lists
Simply add what you know. Even a guess can help.
Scroll to see what you can learn in these detail-rich records:
Scroll to see what you can learn in these detail-rich records:
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Arrival Date
We all like New York in June … or September. But what would the voyage have been like for ships arriving in a particularly stormy March?
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Abbreviations
To save time, inspectors often used terms like “above,” “same,” “ditto” or even an abbreviation of “do” to indicate a repeated entry.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Handwritten Notes
Pay attention to handwriting – it may reveal information about your ancestor that wasn’t required to pass inspection or that clarifies an answer given.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Ship Name
Want to know what the ship looked like? Check the Passenger Ships and Images database at Ancestry.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Sailing From
Country of departure isn’t always the same as the last residence. Use location details on the passenger list to help you determine how far your ancestor had to travel before getting on the boat.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Steerage
Look for details about the travel class at the top of passenger arrival lists – in this case it was “Steerage,” a.k.a. third class. Not clearly marked? If most travelers on the page had little cash and were designated “laborers,” they’re likely in steerage.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Place of Birth
International databases at Ancestry and experts available via the Hire an Expert tab can help you discover more about your ancestor in his or her former homeland or place of birth.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Height, Eye Color
Passenger lists aren’t the only place you may find a physical description of your ancestor. Look for similar information on passport applications and draft cards.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Health Condition
Not all health problems were a quick ticket back home; note the hand-written comments regarding the person on line one.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Miscellaneous Questions
At times, the United States placed restrictions on who could enter the country; admission was determined by the answers a person gave to these questions as well as other factors.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Whether in the U.S. Previously
Pay careful attention to a previous visit: it may lead you to an earlier passenger list containing additional information.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Final Destination
Not what you were expecting? Immigrants often had a destination associated with a friend, relative or job, but they may have moved on shortly thereafter. City directories and census records may help you determine when.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Name of Nearest Relative in Home Country
An entry in this line gives you a new relative to discover. Bonus: if it’s the parent of a married woman, you may have just discovered the woman’s maiden name.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Last Permanent Residence
Information in this column may help you determine where to look for overseas records. Note that, depending on the year, you may be looking at place of birth or last permanent residence.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Calling or Occupation
Occupation was often listed as “laborer,” particularly for steerage passengers, although new jobs were often found after arrival.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Age
Watch for “Yrs.” and “Mon.” particularly in regard to children. An 11-month-old infant would show an entry only in the months column, although occasional mistakes did occur.
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What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Name in full
All passengers, regardless of age, were listed. Immigrant surnames may not be identical to the ones you know: language barriers and accents resulted in creative spellings, and immigrants sometimes modified their names after settling into their new homeland.
Featured Collections
Featured Collections
- Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850–1934
- U.S., Atlantic Ports Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1959
- UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960
- Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S., Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1900-1959
- Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791–1868
- Massachusetts, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963
- New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820–1957
- Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., Passenger Lists, 1820-1964
- California, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1959
- New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., Passenger Lists, 1813-1963
- Pennsylvania, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1798-1962
- Canada, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1865–1935
- Titanic Survivors, Carpathia Passenger List, 1912
Passenger List Research Resources
Passenger List Research Resources
How to find your people
From their destination in America to a relative who remained in the homeland, our tips can help you navigate passenger lists and extract every detail.
Good to know
These fast facts can help you get the most out of passenger lists.
Back to the old country
Found an immigrant ancestor who decided not to stay? See which groups were most likely to return to their home country.
The German connection
Hamburg was Central Europe’s main transatlantic hub in the late 19th century. Did your ancestors depart from here?
Passenger List Stories
Passenger List Stories
Using a passenger list as my tour guide
See how one member used a record to learn more about her Italian heritage.
WATCH NOW: Researchers help you find your immigrant roots.
WATCH NOW: Researchers help you find your immigrant roots.
A simple DNA test can show you where your immigration story began.
A simple DNA test can show you where your immigration story began.
Immigration and Emigration Message Boards
Immigration and Emigration Message Boards
Connect with other people searching for their immigration stories.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
We all like New York in June … or September. But what would the voyage have been like for ships arriving in a particularly stormy March?
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
To save time, inspectors often used terms like “above,” “same,” “ditto” or even an abbreviation of “do” to indicate a repeated entry.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Pay attention to handwriting – it may reveal information about your ancestor that wasn’t required to pass inspection or that clarifies an answer given.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Want to know what the ship looked like? Check the Passenger Ships and Images database at Ancestry.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Country of departure isn’t always the same as the last residence. Use location details on the passenger list to help you determine how far your ancestor had to travel before getting on the boat.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Look for details about the travel class at the top of passenger arrival lists – in this case it was “Steerage,” a.k.a. third class. Not clearly marked? If most travelers on the page had little cash and were designated “laborers,” they’re likely in steerage.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
International databases at Ancestry and experts available via the Hire an Expert tab can help you discover more about your ancestor in his or her former homeland or place of birth.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Passenger lists aren’t the only place you may find a physical description of your ancestor. Look for similar information on passport applications and draft cards.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Not all health problems were a quick ticket back home; note the hand-written comments regarding the person on line one.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
At times, the United States placed restrictions on who could enter the country; admission was determined by the answers a person gave to these questions as well as other factors.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Pay careful attention to a previous visit: it may lead you to an earlier passenger list containing additional information.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Not what you were expecting? Immigrants often had a destination associated with a friend, relative or job, but they may have moved on shortly thereafter. City directories and census records may help you determine when.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
An entry in this line gives you a new relative to discover. Bonus: if it’s the parent of a married woman, you may have just discovered the woman’s maiden name.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Information in this column may help you determine where to look for overseas records. Note that, depending on the year, you may be looking at place of birth or last permanent residence.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Occupation was often listed as “laborer,” particularly for steerage passengers, although new jobs were often found after arrival.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
Watch for “Yrs.” and “Mon.” particularly in regard to children. An 11-month-old infant would show an entry only in the months column, although occasional mistakes did occur.
What can you find in a passenger list?
What can you find in a passenger list?
All passengers, regardless of age, were listed. Immigrant surnames may not be identical to the ones you know: language barriers and accents resulted in creative spellings, and immigrants sometimes modified their names after settling into their new homeland.
- Know your ancestor’s name and age: immigrants arriving in the United States for the first time may have used an ethnic translation of their given names (for example, John could be listed as Jan, Janos, Johann, Gianni or something else entirely). Search the Internet for translating given names if you can’t find your ancestor using the name you’re familiar with.
- Surnames may also have variants that need to be considered. Learn more about surnames in the areas from which your ancestor emigrated and you may find clues to surname variants, and learning about pronunciation can help you locate phonetic variants.
- Date of immigration can be found in records including census records between 1900 and 1930, death records, which may record "How long in the U.S.?", and obituaries. Creating a chronology using dates and places from other records you’ve found can help pin down your ancestor’s immigration date.
- Check brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, mothers and father, even neighbors – any of these could have been traveling companions for your ancestor.
- Some passenger lists include occupations, which can help you distinguish between two immigrants of the same name. Be aware, though, that immigrants often listed “laborer” as an occupation, but may have found a new occupation once settled in America.
- Don’t let a father’s passenger list record fool you: it wasn’t uncommon for one member of the family, usually the family’s head, to come to America and send for the rest of the family after settling in. Your ancestor’s family, therefore, could be listed on multiple passenger lists, on different ships, in different years, and arriving at different ports.
- Look closely – witnesses, sponsors, neighbors, relatives both in America and back home, may be listed in your ancestor’s passenger arrival record or as travel companions.
- Check multiple ports. While New York was the port of choice for millions of immigrants, others traveled through Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, New Orleans, and elsewhere – even when the family story says they arrived at Ellis Island.
- Look to Canada: for years, it was cheaper for immigrants to travel from Europe to Canada and then cross the border into America.
- Passenger lists were created at departure, too. You may find your ancestor in emigration records like the Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850–1934, Swiss Overseas Emigration, 1910–1953, or Swedish Emigration Records, 1783–1951 – all available on Ancestry.
- Many immigrants made more than one trip. Sometimes – particularly in later years when steamships made the trip easier and faster – several trips were made before immigrants finally settled.
What you’ll find in a passenger list depends on the time period. Early passenger lists may include little more than name, departure information and arrival details. But in 1893, the government mandated 16 new fields relating to marital status, last residence, final destination, literacy, financial status and more.
Starting in 1906, manifests required a physical description and place of birth and the following year added name and address of the passenger’s closest living relative in the country of origin (that means another relative to research).
And if your immigrant ancestor arrived prior to 1820, you may still be in luck: while ship captains weren’t required to submit passenger lists before this date, books and lists associated with certain early immigrants and immigrant groups do exist. Browse Passenger Lists at Ancestry for details.
Hungarian Christians, Russian Christians, Italians, Greeks and certain Slavic people were more likely to leave America in favor of their homeland than were their fellow immigrants. The primary reason for leaving was disillusionment – America didn’t live up to their expectations. But language difficulties, assimilation problems and the drastically different lifestyle in a big American city (trade life on an Italian vineyard for four cramped rooms in a tenement?) also fueled the hunger for home.
Groups most likely to remain in America included Turks, Spaniards, Jews, Irish, and Bulgarians.
Remember your ancestor didn’t just arrive, he or she left from somewhere, too. And that trail was marked at both the start of your ancestor’s journey as well as the end.
The German port of Hamburg, for example, was a popular departure point for emigrating Europeans from various countries. And you can access Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850–1934 online at Ancestry. Look for details to add U.S. passenger arrival lists you already found or to help you locate a U.S. list that keeps eluding you. And check your ancestor’s fellow passengers as well – you may find other relatives on board.
Can’t read the language? Not a problem. The following words plus tips in The German Research Center at Ancestry, will help you through:
- Zuname = surname
- Vorname = given name
- Geschlecht = Gender
- Männlich = male
- Weiblich = female
- Alter (in Jahren) = age (in years)
- Familienstand = family status
- Verheiratet = married
- Geschieden = divorced
- Ledig = single
- Verwitwet = widowed
- Beruf = occupation
- Stellung = position
- Staatsangehörigkeit = citizenship, nationality
- Bisheriger Wohnort = past residence
- Ziel der Umdwanderung = destination
- Ort und Staat = place and state
The Ethnicity/Nationality Field
- Polen (Poland)
- Ungarn (Hungary)
- Österreich (Austria)
- Russland (Russia)
- Deutschland (Germany)
- Schweiz (Switzerland)
- Rumanien (Romania)
- Bulgarien (Bulgaria)
- Serbien (Serbia)
- Kroatien (Croatia)
- Belgien (Belgium)
- Niederlande (Netherlands)
- Italien (Italy)
- Spanien (Spain)
“Two weeks before I traveled to Italy with my mother in June, I decided to search the Internet for immigration information. On Ancestry I found a copy of the ship manifest with the names of my great grandmother – Elvira DiLello – coming to Philadelphia with two daughters (my grandmother Iola and my Aunt Aida). From that manifest, we identified the town in Abruzzo where my grandmother was born. When we got to Italy, we found a guide to take us to that town and we were able to locate the house my grandmother was born in. The look on my mother’s face as we took her picture in front of that house is a memory I will cherish my entire life. My grandmother died when my mom was a young woman, but in that moment, my mother seemed to be connected to her again.”
— Kathy Doherty
Mechanicsburg, PA
Your ancestors took their DNA to the new world. Where will your DNA take you?
Your ancestors took their DNA to the new world. Where will your DNA take you?
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What you get with AncestryDNA:
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