A lot of genealogy types discuss (argue?) which term is a summary of what we do. A common result is that genealogy is about names and dates, as well as DNA and relationships. And Family History is more about the life stories of our ancestors. What happens when we graph the usage of the terms on the Internet?
Using Google Trends I did just that. Here is a five-year graph of the terms. Blue is for “Genealogy” and Red is for “Family History”. You be the judge.
Graph 1 shows the use of the terms for the last five years on the Internet. It is interesting that Family History is now more used than Genealogy.
Graph 2 shows which term is more prevalent by state. It seems that Family History is more prevalent than Genealogy west of the Mississippi.
Graph 3 shows sort of a “heat” chart. The darker the outline of the state, the more interest. This one is for the term Genealogy.
Graph 4 shows another “heat” chart. The darker the outline of the state, the more interest. This one is for the term Family History.
Interesting comparisons. If you wish to see even more details, go to this LINK
2 replies on “Genealogy vs Family History – Graphed!”
I’m more in the family history category. I have two reasons. The first is that too many of my family members were born, married, or died when/where no records were kept. I would have no proof any event ever happened. The second is without the story of their life it’s just numbers and I can get that off their grave stone IF there is one. But one little problem with gravestones is their accuracy. Both of my grandmothers’ stones are wrong.
There is an interesting article in the Genealogists’ Magazine of the Society of Genealogists (vol. 33 No 12 Dec 2021, page 499), in which the author claims that genealogy shows the relationships between people, and can have gaps or condensations, whereas Family History is complete and should have no gaps (something that is probably never attained).