How to trace your Dutch roots online
Ranked #65 in Relationships & Family, #9,636 overall
How to find your Dutch ancestors on the internet
If you have Dutch ancestors and want to find out more about them, you will be pleasantly surprised about the wealth of information that is freely available on the internet.
In this lens, I will guide you to the best places to find your Dutch ancestors online.
Poll: Do you have Dutch roots?
Genlias
National database of BMD records

If you want to research your Dutch ancestors via the internet, your starting point should be the Genlias website.
Genlias is a joint product of the regional history centres and state archives in the Netherlands. Genlias contains records from the civil register (birth, marriage and death records maintained by local governments), and sometimes the church books. It is a work in progress, and currently far from complete, but already contains over 11 million records.
Genlias has an English interface (click "English" in the top right), but all information it contains is in Dutch. To search, click "Searching in Genlias", then "Searching in Genlias database" (or go directly to the search page). It may be a good idea to read the Search instructions and Explanation of the results first.
Read my Genlias article for more information on how to use Genlias.
Genealogy books
Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague
Local BMD databases
Not all places have data in Genlias. The three largest cities of The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and The Hague, are hardly represented. Rotterdam does not participate in Genlias at all, Amsterdam is busy adding records but is not quite there yet, and The Hague has only a few records in Genlias. All three cities have their own online database.
Some Amsterdam records can be found on the website of the Amsterdam city archive. The most important are the baptisms (1564-1811). Their website is available in Dutch and English.
Rotterdam has the excellent Rotterdam Municipal Archives' Digital Family Tree. A large part of the website is also available in English. The website contains most of the church books (covering the period 1573-1811) and a large part of the civil register (1811-1950).
The Hague has created a virtual study center, that should eventually have the same information available as their study center in the The Hague city archive. It has scans of their civil registry records. The website is hard to navigate, there is no searchable index, and it does not have an English interface. Recently they opened a new, and better, website that contains part of their population register: Digital Family Tree The Hague. This website does have an English interface.
Zuid-Holland
Trace your roots online in Zuid-Holland

Genlias records are usually added by the provincial archives. Zuid-Holland, however, does not have a provincial archive (provincial records are maintained by the National Archives in The Hague). It is up to the local and regional archives to decide wether to take part in Genlias or not.
Places that are not represented in Genlias include major cities like Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, and Delft. Places that do not take part in Genlias and do not have their own online database will eventually be added to Genlias by the National Archives. For the latest information on Zuid-Holland records in Genlias, check out Archives in Zuid-Holland and Genlias and Actual content (both on the Genlias website).
Genealogy in Zuid-Holland contains a list of all municipalities in Zuid-Holland, and in which online database (if any) their records are kept.
Dutch roots on eBay
Quiz: What do you know about Dutch genealogy?
Dutch genealogy links
A few links to Dutch genealogy sites. Some links were added by the author of this article, others by readers. Please vote for your favorite site, and feel free to add other relevant sites.
Trace your Dutch roots weblog
My Dutch genealogy weblog.2 points
Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium
An index to the many available online resources.1 point
Trace your Dutch roots
My guide to genealogy in The Netherlands.1 point
National Archive
The website of the National Archive of The Netherl more...0 points
Central Bureau for Genealogy
The Dutch information and documentation centre for more...0 points
Trace Family History
As our lives become busier and we find ourselves j more...0 points
Dutch Course
Learn Dutch Fast0 points
Public Records Search
How to search public records in one minute0 points
What's next?
There is, of course, much more to discover than just the websites listed above. Once you know where your ancestors came from you can use the website Digital resources Netherlands and Belgium to discover what else is available online. And my website Trace your Dutch roots has lots of tips and advice on Dutch genealogy, for both beginners and advanced researchers.
A quarterly newsletter
If you are serious about finding your Dutch ancestors, or just want to know more about Dutch heritage, you should subscribe to my quarterly newsletter. You can find the subscription form and all previous issues here.
Meet us on facebook
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Dutch traditions: December holidays
Do you have Dutch roots? If so, can you tell me a bit about your December holiday traditions? Are there any Dutch elements in your celebrations? I opened a page here on Squidoo where you can share your story: December in Holland. Read how we celebrate the holidays in Holland, then tell us how you celebrate yours.
Your Dutch roots
Guestbook
Did this lens help you finding your Dutch ancestors? Do you have any questions about Dutch genealogy? Please take a few moments to leave a message or ask your question, or just sign the guestbook.
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EclecticNana
May 18, 2012 @ 1:18 pm | delete
- Great lens, I didn't realize that I might be able to find out more about my Dutch ancestors for free. Free is always good! Thanks!
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Amien
Mar 13, 2012 @ 2:46 am | delete
- Thanks, this looks like a good place to start my search. i just found out my great grandmother came from Holland, but that is about all we know at this stage. We also not sure sure on the correct spelling of the surname. Its van Loggenberg, but apparently there are a few different spelling permutations.
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mizrae
Apr 26, 2012 @ 7:34 am | delete
- Just out of curiosity, did your family drop the "van" when they arrived in America as my family did? My grandfather came from Holland as well.
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DavedHope
Mar 3, 2012 @ 6:54 am | delete
- What a Useful lens and very Informative.
I am not Dutch but I love the Dutch people.
Ow-same Lens!
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madoc
Feb 29, 2012 @ 12:34 pm | delete
- This is going to be a very useful lens for me. My surname is Scott so I may be a Border Reiver but I might just as well be descended from Huguenot refugees with the surname Schott who moved from the Netherlands to Lancashire. I have problems following my father's father's line past four generations, so maybe this will give me a chance to come back the other way
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kevingomes13
Feb 27, 2012 @ 5:51 pm | delete
- I love the Netherlands!
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LKW31
Jan 29, 2012 @ 3:27 pm | delete
- This is a very helpful lens, thank you! I was wondering you know how I can trace my Great Grandpa who was in the Dutch East Indies Army from about 1895 until the 1920s. I would love to know more about what he did there, but understand that it was a period of history that Dutch people would rather forget about. His name was Willem van der Vlerk and he was a colonel, there is a wikipedia article on him but I want to explore further. Any tips would be much appreciated!
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Henk
Mar 4, 2012 @ 8:54 am | delete
- Archives of the Dutch East Indies army are kept at the Dutch National Archive in Den Haag. You can probably reconstruct his military career there, but you would have to visit The Netherlands.
The online Dutch newspaper archive at http://kranten.kb.nl/ will probably have a lot of information.
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Tipi
Jan 25, 2012 @ 11:47 am | delete
- I'm not Dutch but returning to appreciate your research advice for those trying to trace Dutch roots...blessed!
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meashman
Jan 23, 2012 @ 12:10 pm | delete
- Very proud of my Dutch ancestry through my Grandfather. Enjoyed visiting Amsterdam a few years ago and visiting the Oude Kerk (Old Church) where many of my ancestors were married and christened.
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argonauta
Aug 27, 2011 @ 1:05 am | delete
- well done lens - even if i am not dutch :-)
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NoobWriter
Aug 19, 2011 @ 11:10 am | delete
- Nice lens......
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vallain May 28, 2011 @ 7:05 pm | delete
- I think many people will find this and your other web site quite helpful. Well done.
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UKGhostwriter
Apr 8, 2011 @ 3:44 am | delete
- A wealth of information - thank you!
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ToTheBrimm
Apr 5, 2011 @ 8:41 am | delete
- Thank you.
I found no Dutch roots, but enjoyed looking.
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nuestraherencia
Mar 17, 2011 @ 1:06 pm | delete
- very informative...I'm going to share with my sister-in-law!
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Mujjen
Mar 10, 2011 @ 3:13 pm | delete
- Genealogy is very interesting. I don't think I have Dutch roots, must ask somebody!
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capriliz
Feb 14, 2011 @ 8:31 am | delete
- Thanks for all the useful information that people can use to trace their family roots. ~blessed~
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Bookworm25
Jan 26, 2011 @ 9:01 am | delete
- This is an interesting lens, genealogy has so much information and having them broken down into smaller more manageable pages is wonderful. Enjoyed reading this! :)
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GonnaFly
Dec 29, 2010 @ 3:07 am | delete
- My mother is Dutch and my brother has been researching old records which he sometimes gets my mother to help translate. I'm not sure where he got his info from ...
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windygig
Nov 24, 2010 @ 11:40 pm | delete
- Thanks. I'm glad you led me to The Hague's virtual library.
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Nov 23, 2010 @ 8:10 am | delete
- I don't think I have dutch roots!
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rwoman Nov 11, 2010 @ 9:05 am | delete
- My son has been pushing us lately to do more research into our roots and this will offers us a great place to start!
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sandyspider
Nov 6, 2010 @ 12:21 pm | delete
- Good information on tracing your Dutch roots.
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ShirlW
Nov 5, 2010 @ 4:57 pm | delete
- My son has Dutch roots from his father. He will be so interested in this!
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About the author
by Henk
Web author, genealogist, avid reader, art lover.
I am the author of the Trace your Dutch roots website, and the corresponding blog and newsletter.
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