As a Canadian, the most recent census that I can find my family in is the Prairie Provinces Census in 1926. This census was conducted only in the western provinces, and thankfully, my family was living in the west, but because it was in 1926 only my grandparents were in the census not my parents. This census can be found on FamilySearch.
I think it will be so interesting for many people in the U.S. to be able to, depending on their age, find themselves, their parents, and/or grandparents in the 1950 U.S. Census.
Recently Ancestry® conducted a survey, and they found some interesting facts that you can see in this infographic. (If you click the graphic, you’ll be able to enlarge the image.)
One of the most interesting facts I found is that 53% of Americans don’t know their four grandparents’ names. I found that stat quite surprising and I guess a bit unbelievable, but I can’t go by my own experience because I’ve been interested in genealogy since I was a teen. But I have a friend staying with me, so I asked her, “Do you know your grandparents’ names?” She said yes, they were Henry and Olive Overacker and Thomas and Viola Nicolson. So I asked her do you know what your grandmother’s maiden names were? The answer was no.
I’d asked this same question to another friend many years ago, and at the time, I was shocked to hear that he didn’t know his grandparents’ names either.
It shows me that knowing your grandparents’ names isn’t as commonplace as I’d thought.
This Ancestry infographic also tells us what people expect to learn about their family members that will be found in the 1950 US Census.
- employment details
- occupations
- names and ages
You may also find that the family unit is different. Children living with their parents in the 1940 U.S. Census might now be grown and have families of their own.. You may find children living in the 1950 Census, but that later passed away, and their stories were not passed along. There are so many possibilities.
Today at midnight Crista Cowan told us that the 1950 U.S. Census had arrived and was being downloaded, and the process of having AI analysis of the handwriting had started.
Crista also mentioned in her video about going to the Ancestry site homepage and you’ll see the new sections about the 1950 US census. This shows you how to search for your census district, and then with that knowledge, once the census documents are available, you’ll be able to access and find your family.
I’d love to hear your 1950 U.S. census stories. Who did you find? Were they where you expected them?
Happy Hunting.
April 2, 2022
Looking in Oklahoma but all I get is a prop-up saying will be available April 1, 2022, today is April 2, 2022.
Not one has given names of possible relatives to search through. I do hope they go back to the old way.
The big-name genealogy companies are working hard to make it easy to search, but you can search it manually on the National Archives site. I have no US ancestry, so I looked up a friend’s family and found them in 8 minutes. Have a look. https://1950census.archives.gov/
My mom’s 4 grandparents all died before she was born. She did not know all of their names. I became interested in genealogy because I thought that was horrible, and I wanted to find their names for her.
Donna, were you able to find their names for her?