30 Of The Best Genealogy Gift Ideas For Family Historians
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Are you having trouble finding the right genealogy gift ideas for that special family historian in your life?
Well, don’t worry because I’ve rounded up ideas for gifts for the genealogist at a range of prices that are sure to delight your gift recipient. (And no DNA kits! Although, those also make good gifts.)
This guide filled has you covered with ideas on gifts for genealogy buffs.
30 genealogy gift ideas
Here are 30 genealogy gifts for Christmas or any other special occasion.
Personalized gifts
Personalized genealogy gifts are a thoughtful way to help your loved one share parts of their family history that mean a lot to them. Some ideas for custom gifts include:
An engraved handwritten recipe cutting board. This is a lovely way to remember and share an heirloom recipe and can be for everyday use or decoration.
A historical map reproduction from where their family came from. World Maps Online has a lot of old maps for not only the US but also other countries. They even have murals.
Professional genealogist services, like a research package or or coaching session. If you know someone curious about their family tree but doesn’t know where to look, or is stuck on a brick wall, help them avoid frustration and get straight to finding answers.
A family tree keychain with personalized charms would be a sweet gift.
A custom tea towel featuring a treasured family recipe.
A family recipe book. Take the tea towel to the next level and pair it with a recipe book that can become a family heirloom.
Organization and Preservation gifts
Help someone get their research organized and preserved for the future with gifts of archival supplies like:
A My Family History Kit, complete with cotton gloves and storage for valuable family documents. Gaylord archival supplies are top-notch.
Supplies to create family history binders to organize and store their research papers. Binders like these or these can hold a lot and get their documents under control and organized. There are also color binders so they can code their binders by branch, like this variety pack or this one.
And don’t forget acid-free plastic sleeves to hold the papers, like these or these.
Archival photo supplies. If they have photos they want to preserve, check out these acid-free photo envelopes with a pocket that you can keep both prints and negatives. The envelopes can be easily stored in archival storage supplies made for photos. This one comes with some starter envelopes.
You could also pick up an acid-free, archival-quality pen for safely labeling photos.
Genealogy educational opportunities
There are many excellent genealogy education programs out there to fit just about any topic your gift recipient has an interest in.
A Legacy Family Tree Webinars gift subscription. Legacy Family Tree Webinars has thousands of webinars in its library and offers new ones monthly. At only $49.95 a year, this is a steal. I use this all the time.
A genealogy institute. Institutes are generally one-week courses where students sign up to learn a topic in-depth, like Irish genealogy, land records, or writing a family history book. They also have genealogy courses for beginners dipping their toes into family history research. Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), GRIP, and Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) are the biggest and have a wide range of classes. These organizations don’t offer gift certificates, but you could make your own coupon or certificate as a voucher for a class.
Genealogy memberships
Memberships will give your gift recipient access to millions (or billions) of records and features like family trees and educational resources.
An Ancestry membership is a fabulous choice because of the sheer number of records they have for countries all over the world. I have the All Access pass, which also gives access to Newspapers.com and Fold3, but any of the tiers would be valuable for their research.
A Findmypast subscription. This site is perfect for UK and Irish research also has US records.
If your giftee has New England roots, an American Ancestors subscription would be a great gift. Also known as the New England Historical and Genealogical Society (NEHGS), they are a premier resource for research in this region. A NEHGS membership will give access to unique databases of records for New England, as well as educational resources like webinars, a journal, and a magazine.
Family history books
A few of my favorite general genealogy books that will please anyone trying to uplevel their skills are:
Mastering Genealogical Proof by Tom Jones is a must-have for serious researchers. This book will help your giftee apply genealogical standards to their research. Each chapter also comes with exercises so the reader can practice the concepts.
Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry. Reading old handwriting takes practice. This excellent guide will get your loved one reading old writing in no time.
The Family Tree Problem Solver has tips on breaking through brick walls, including pre-1850 ancestors and burned counties.
The Family Tree Toolkit is packed with information on different types of records, ethnic resources, and using DNA in your genealogy research. It also has a section on how to research adoptees.
Mastering Genealogical Documentation guides readers through how and when to cite information in their research. The book includes exercises with each chapter to practice and helps reduce the overwhelm in getting started with citations.
Language guides. If your gift recipient has tracked their ancestry back to their homeland, gift them a guide on genealogical terms for that country. This Swedish Genealogy Glossary is a great example.
Genealogy software and hardware
Family tree software. It’s not enough to keep an online tree. Genealogy software is essential because you may not always have access to trees online. There are a lot of programs, but a few of the most popular are Legacy Family Tree, Family Tree Maker, and Roots Magic. I use and love Legacy, but each program has pros and cons.
An external hard drive. So much research is now done online, and genealogists have a lot of digital files. Backing up research is essential. Huge drives now have huge storage capacities, like this, this, and this.
Cloud storage. Cloud storage is another handy way to backup files. (I use cloud and external hard drive storage for all my genealogy documents.) Cloud storage comes in a range of prices. Microsoft One Drive and Dropbox are popular programs.
Photo editing software to help with hard-to-read, old documents. Adobe Elements and Lightroom are affordable options.
Stocking stuffer ideas for genealogists
Let’s not forget about stocking stuffers!
Here are a few ideas of little genealogy-themed goodies:
Flash drives for when your family historian takes trips to archives and libraries. They can scan documents to a flash drive for free instead of paying for copies and adding them to their piles of papers. They can also be used as a backup method instead of an external hard drive. A couple of good ones are this and this.
Genealogy-themed stickers, like these cute ones with sayings like “Genealogy: Life in the Past Lane.”
A beautiful magnifying glass so they can easily read old documents. This is a nice one, and so is this and this.
A diary so they can record their own stories for future generations. This notebook is a nice, simple journal. Line a Day diaries like this one and this one capture even more memories.
This Fun Conversation Starters Party Game, with questions designed for players to share their stories, thoughts, and memories.
Final thoughts
From archive supplies to genealogy education, software for family trees, memberships, books on family history, and stocking stuffers, these genealogist gifts will delight your loved one!