5 Compelling Reasons to Support the “Cousins Across the Ocean” Project with Icelandic Roots

Note: If you are attending either of this year's Icelandic Celebrations in Mountain, North Dakota, or Gimli, Manitoba, Icelandic Roots hosts a free genealogy center you could participate in. Filling out a Cousins Across the Ocean form ahead of time allows the genealogists to have your family information ready to view during the sessions.

The Icelandic Roots genealogy database is a comprehensive collection of genealogical records on Western Icelanders (those who emigrated to the Americas between 1850 and 1915) and their descendants. With 858,284 profiles in the database—and more added every week—it’s no accident that this database is the dream resource for any family historian or historical writer. Since 2013, a dedicated team of volunteers has meticulously compiled and vetted an array of records, including but not limited to:

• Birth records

• Death records

• Parish records

• Marriage/divorce records

• Passenger lists

• Ship records

• Place names and photos

• Map coordinates

• Military service records

• Individual stories

• Media (photos, documents, etc.)

• Family connections

Icelandic Roots is a non-profit organization built on the work of the Icelandic genealogist Hálfdan Helgason, whose mission was to create a digital resource base for the benefit of all Icelanders, people of Icelandic heritage, and their families worldwide. Beginning in 2003, Sunna Olafson Furstenau worked with Hálfdan and George Freeman for the "Cousins Across the Ocean" project and collaborated with other Icelandic genealogists. When Hálfdan transferred his database to Icelandic Roots in 2013, what started as a blog, newsletter, and Facebook page grew into the vibrant nonprofit 501c3 organization we know today. (Learn more about our history here)

We Operate on Passion and Dedication

Everything we do here at Icelandic Roots comes from the generous time and expertise our volunteers give to the organization. Icelandic Roots doesn’t receive government funding. We rely on the kind donations and membership fees from people like you! It’s our collective passion for keeping our shared history alive that makes it all work. 

But we also need your help! 

Our researchers put many hours into public record searches and maintain community connections to help keep the database up to date, but most of our contemporary information comes from you—our members, supporters, and followers. 

Cousins Across the Ocean

You can help us grow and strengthen the database for future generations by filling in a “Cousins Across the Ocean Form.” Keeping our database current helps connect Icelandic descendants outside of Iceland with their Icelandic heritage and their cousins back in Iceland. 

You can fill in a form more than once, and we encourage you to fill one in every time you have an update for your family. Some examples of information you can share with our genealogy team include:

• Births

• Baptism

• Achievements

• Life Markers or Celebrations

• Military Service

• Obituaries  

Why Share Your Family Story with Icelandic Roots?

Reason #1: Icelandic Roots Maintains a Highly Secure and Private Database

Our database is fully secure and private (read our privacy policies here), accessible only to paying members and our dedicated volunteers. We have different membership levels, but only individuals who have proven Icelandic ancestry can become Full-Access Members with access to the genealogy database. This means that the information within the database is not open to the wider general public, and makes us different from other general genealogy websites that are open to anyone.

Individual profile pages are open to members by default, but can be set to private at any time. A private profile means only the genealogists can view the information stored on the profile page. For example, someone in a government position or a public setting might want to hide their current details. Once their desire for privacy is over, the private setting can be switched back to public. In one scenario, someone might retire and want to connect with cousins more easily. In another scenario, if a relative passes away, the family might want to make the information public for genealogy purposes. In any case, changing a profile page from public to private or back again can be done at any time by our genealogy team. 

Reason #2: Icelandic Roots Contains an Unparalleled Amount of Detailed Information on Icelandic Genealogy

The Icelandic roots database is the largest resource for genealogical information on Icelandic immigrants in North America and South America. Our experts have collected an array of records vetted by our experienced team of Icelandic genealogists (meet our team). The volume of information you’ll discover in our database on Western Icelanders is unparalleled. From passenger ship lists to military records to historical timelines and family stories, details that normally take months to track down are available at your fingertips.

Every detail that is entered into the Icelandic Roots genealogical database is fact-checked as best as possible by a team of experienced genealogists. When you use Icelandic Roots, you're not building an isolated family tree from scratch; you’re exploring the existing tree of Icelandic history and your family’s branch within it. 

When you log on, you’ll instantly be able to see how you're connected with the entire web of Icelandic immigrants and families. 

Reason #3: You're Supporting Philanthropy in the Community

Icelandic Roots is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the Icelandic immigration story (read our mission). Before becoming a member or making a donation, you may wonder where the money goes. Because we have a team of extremely talented, passionate, and dedicated volunteers who keep this organization running—from cyber security to data entry to hosting social events and interacting with the members—we’re able to give a large percentage of the membership fees and donations back into our Icelandic communities across North America and Iceland. 

We have given out hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and heritage grants to exciting programs in Canada, Iceland, and the United States. 

Reason #4: Keep the Story Going for Future Generations

You may know your family history well, but what about your children or grandchildren? Icelandic Roots offers you a digital way to keep your family story secure for future generations to have access to and connect with when their interest strikes them.

Our team of genealogists work hard to scour newspapers for important information, such as birth announcements, marriage announcements, and obituaries. But this is not an efficient, nor perfect, system. The best way that you can help us grow the database and keep it robust for the next generation is to submit your family information. As of publishing this article, we have over 858,704 entries already in the database—our homepage counter updates every 15 minutes.

Reason #5: It’s Completely Free!

We run the Cousins Across the Ocean Project because we’re passionate about serving our community. The form is completely free for anyone of Icelandic ancestry to fill in and submit—whether or not you’re a member yet. And if you would like to support the work we do financially, donations of any amount are always welcome. 

Fill Out a Cousins Across the Ocean Form

Are you of Icelandic descent? Head over to our Cousins Across the Ocean page and fill out your form for free.