Top French Genealogy Websites and Online Resources

By Paul Woodbury Premium
A computer monitor on a modern desk displays the French flag. There are office supplies, a plant, and a cup of coffee on the desk.

Genealogy research in France offers some of the most detailed, well-preserved, and accessible documentation for illuminating the lives of ancestors and drawing connections to distant generations.

Fortunately, many of these records have been published online. And the major genealogy websites have taken notice, with both Ancestry.com and MyHeritage merging with prominent French websites in recent years.

Of the hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of websites that can help in French genealogy research, we’ve found the following to be the most useful. They’ve been sorted into three categories: free websites, subscription websites, and specialty websites.

Free French Genealogy Websites

The following sites may be helpful for researchers as they learn about French record types, record-keeping practices, research methods, and historical and geographic context. Note that several are in French, so you’ll need a tool such as Google Translate if you’re not a Francophone.

1. FranceGenWeb

This site, “by and for amateur genealogists,” hosts reference material for many areas of France, as well as some specialized research databases. Among its pages is CommunesGenWeb, a database that documents name changes, mergers, and divisions of nearly 36,000 municipalities (communes) established since the French Revolution.

2. Geneawiki

Geneawiki, a spinoff of subscription website Geneanet (no. 9), publishes helpful articles about French record types: their history, organization, and what to consider when researching and analyzing them.

3. FamilySearch

FamilySearch has been pursuing indexing French records over the past several years: civil registrations, church documents and censuses, to name a few. Additionally, the FamilySearch Catalog has additional resources for various areas of France: compiled and published genealogies, archival catalogs, and more.

FamilySearch’s tie-in Research Wiki has helpful guides to some of these resources—and to French research in general.

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4. La Revue Française de la Généalogie

This is the official website of a bimonthly French-language magazine, which hosts how-to advice and news articles. Find back-issues of the magazine as well as standalone research guides from the publisher.

5. Geoportail

Managed by France’s Institute of National Geography, Géoportail has several historical and modern map collections. Among them are the Cassini maps (prepared during the 17th century), the Carte d’état major (made between 1820 and 1866), and modern-day records of cadastral parcels, aerial images, and other maps. The text on these maps is searchable, enabling exploration of obscure and lesser-known place names.

6. Napoleon.org

This website from the Napoleon Foundation focuses (unsurprisingly) on the Napoleonic era of French and European history. Of special help is a tool for converting dates recorded in the French Republican calendar to those in the Gregorian calendar. (France adopted its own unique calendar system from 1793 to 1805, with years counted from the first day of the French Republic.)

7. Meyers Gazetteer

The digital version of the well-respected Meyers Gazetteer catalogs German place names and their French equivalents, along with nearby Lutheran and Catholic parishes. The directory is especially helpful for Alsace, Lorraine and other regions that have switched between German and French jurisdiction over the centuries. Read a tutorial here.

Subscription Websites for French Genealogy

Large commercial databases (those with an international reach as well as those more specific to France) often bring together indexes, digital images, and compiled family trees from many areas of France.

8. Filae

Filae, now part of the MyHeritage family, is a commercial website dedicated to French genealogy. The French version of the site hosts the Noms de famille tool, which shows surname distribution as recorded in civil registers and statistical reports.

The site also has compiled family trees and various records from department and municipal archives: civil registers, censuses, naturalization indexes, military honor records, and more.

9. Geneanet

Likewise, Geneanet is a commercial website acquired by Ancestry.com. It has millions of detailed (and often sourced) family trees, plus significant databases of birth, marriage and death indexes (some with record images), census records, Parisian cemetery records, and military records. Through partnerships with other public websites, Geneanet’s Genealogy Library also has access to old books, newspapers and other publications.

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10. MyHeritage and 11. Ancestry.com

Some of the aforementioned sites’ collections are also searchable through their respective parent sites, MyHeritage and Ancestry.com. Each also has their own collections and resources for French research, such as record indexes and family trees.

In addition, MyHeritage has the largest DNA database of French test takers (though it no longer sells DNA kits to customers in France).

French Archive Websites

In addition to partnering with third-party subscription websites, many archives host materials themselves. You’ll find various records through these more localized sites, depending on place and jurisdiction.

Municipal archives

Some communes or other municipalities (i.e., city- or town-level governments) maintain their own collections of civil and other records. Find a list here.

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Départment archives

France is made up of 101 departments (départements), 96 of them on or near the European mainland and five of them overseas. Many are then divided into arrondissements (similar to districts), then cantons and communes. Some of the most frequently used genealogical records, including parish registers and civil registers, are kept at both the commune and department levels.

Coordinated digitization efforts at most department archives have made their websites invaluable online resources for genealogists. Each department has its own website.

Most host images of parish and civil records, the latter of which are subject to 100-year privacy restrictions. Decennial tables (tables décennales, indexes of civil records compiled every 10 years) may also be available. Note that department websites may offer original records for years earlier than you can search for them on commercial websites.

Another reason to look for original records at the department archive: Commercial websites may redact certain information (marginal notes or references to later marriages or deaths, for instance). But original versions of these records at the department websites rarely omit such details.

Records kept at French department archives

In addition to civil registration and parish registers, many department websites digitize and publish:

  • Census records taken every five years from 1836 to 1936 with two exceptions: 1871 (taken in 1872) and 1916 (skipped due to World War I)
  • Military conscription records commencing in 1867 for male individuals turning twenty within each year
  • Tables of succession created within each canton or registration district that detail all deaths and (if any) inheritance obligations
  • Notarial repertoires, which are abstracts of notarial records (such as marriage contracts, last wills and testaments, and property transactions)
  • Electoral lists of citizens eligible to vote within a commune in a given year and kept annually
  • Cadastral maps (particularly from the Napoleonic era)
  • Mortgage records relating to individual properties
  • Town council minutes and deliberations
  • Lists of grievances prior to the French Revolution
  • Newspapers
  • Prison registers
  • Postcards and photos
  • Passports
  • Maritime sailor and ship registration records
  • Commune histories
  • Public assistance registers
  • Hospital records
  • Cemetery and funeral home records

French departments then and now

Départment boundaries may have changed over time. Consider both their historical and modern borders when looking for records.

Below is a map of French departments, circa 1900. See another map here.

Black and white map of France showing its regions and departments, bordered by countries and bodies of water, with department names labeled in French
French departments, circa 1900. Courtesy Ilbusca/iStock

Links to department archive websites

URLs vary but generally follow the template of archives.[department-name].fr. Alternatively, you can Google the name of the department plus archive or see a complete list here.

Below, you can find links to each department archive website:

National Archives

Most French genealogy records are held at the department level. But some useful documents are maintained by the French National Archives (Archives Nationales), which has digitized its catalog and certain records on its website. Note that many of the records here are merely index entries that refer back to in-person materials at archive facilities.

That said, several of the National Archives’ databases may be of help. Léonore, for example, hosts files for recipients of the Légion d’honneur (France’s highest military and civil honor, granted to some 1 million people since 1804). And the Archive national d’outre-mer (ANOM) contains civil registration and military records from overseas departments and territories, including many erstwhile French colonies around the world.

Another nationwide database is Mémoire des Hommes, a portal of military records created by the French armed forces. There, you’ll find POW records, casualty lists, troop censuses, unit histories, journals, and documents associated with the WWII French Resistance.

Specialty Websites for French Genealogy

Other resources focus on specific kinds of records, sources or peoples.

Newspapers

French newspapers often included extracts of civil registration acts, notices of death (similar to obituaries), notices of notarial acts, and advertisements.

Newspaper are sometimes found at department websites, but can also be found through university libraries, department libraries, and other jurisdictions. Geneanet’s Genealogy Library interfaces with some of these institutions.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF, or the National Library of France) operates Gallica, a searchable digital catalog of online newspapers, pamphlets, notices and more. The commercial website RetroNews allows users to search some of the same publications.

National publications, including the Bulletin des lois (Bulletin of Laws) and the Journal officiel (Official Journal) are also available through Gallica. These government publications might include information on naturalizations, patents for inventions, acts of name change, military promotions, awards and medals, acceptance lists to state schools, pensions for civil servants and information on members of the Legion d’honneur.

Modern death notices (which can include information on living, surviving relatives) are sometimes published on websites such as the following:

Genealogical Societies

France is home to many active genealogical groups and societies who share guides, finding aids, transcriptions, abstracts, compiled genealogies and more. Find a list of department and local societies and “circles” here.

Huguenot Research

Several resources are dedicated to the Huguenots, Protestant emigrants who left France in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries because of religious persecution. Here are some standouts:

Online French genealogical research is supported and facilitated by these and many other websites. Taken together, they provide ample documentation and extensive opportunities for tracing genealogies in France and rich biographical details regarding French ancestors. Start your own journey today in exploring your ancestors in France!

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A version of this article was published online in July 2025 and in the March/April 2026 issue of Family Tree Magazine. Last updated: April 2026

French Genealogy, Heritage

Author

Paul Woodbury, AG, MEd., is a Senior Researcher at Legacy Tree Genealogists (https://www.legacytree.com/paulw) where he has helped solve hundreds of genetic genealogy cases. He graduated from Brigham Young University where he studied Genetics and Family History. He also holds a master’s degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology. In addition to genetic genealogy, he loves research in France (for which he has received accreditation through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists). He regularly presents on genetic genealogy and French research topics in webinars, institutes, and conferences.

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