In the past few months, I took up genealogy as a hobby.  Compared to 10 years ago, sites like Ancestry.com are full of amazing in-depth information. There are even Apps for your phone that suggest relatives based on  what you have input.

If you have relatives that were in the USA in the Colonial Periods before the American Revolution, you are most probably related to untold numbers of people in the USA including many celebrities and politicians.

I have found that I am probably related to 15 USA presidents including:  Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Bush, Obama and others.  Also, it seems that I am related to many writers, musicians, and entertainers.  To be transparent, many of these relatives are 7th, 8th, and 9th cousins, but still it makes for good conversation.

Next, when using Ancestry, you can go up the line to suggested ancestors and find countless names and families.  The results of these searches show that I am related  to various lords, barons, viscounts, Kings and Queens.  I guess you need only be the descendant of one of the documented children of some baron or lord who had 15 children, to be connected to a royal family.

What is more fun is that Ancestry is very deep now with information. Once you connect to a princess or prince, you jump to a King or Queen.  Before you know it, you are related to half of Europe through the royally arranged marriages over the last 2000 years.

Very possibly, I am directly descended from the Kings and Queens of:  Scotland, England, Wales, Mercia, Bavaria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Naples, Prussia/Brandenburg, including great names such as the Holy Roman Emperors, the Sinclair’s of Scotland, The Stewarts, Tudors, Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs, Plantagenet’s, and more.  I even found that I am the direct descendant to an obscure Baron called the Barony of Innerpeffray – Thus, I must now assume the title of  Baron of Innerpeffray or when travelling?

Furthermore, the Were Related App says I may be related to people such as: Ben Franklin, Brad Pitt, and Jimi Hendrix.  Thus, my abilities with music and writing have greatly improved lately …

And if you can t find anything on Ancestry, then get a DNA test.  Everybody I know who did not know much about their ancestry is coming back with results from all over the world, various minorities, major blends of tribes and diversities, and so forth.  I did my DNA to be sure, and I found that I was a mix  of: Native American, Scandinavian, Sicilian, Hispanic, German, French, English, Scottish, Balkan – Greek Turkish Italian and much more.

So, have fun with the searching.