Building Better Family Trees With MyHeritage’s Cousin Finder

What if the answer to your genealogy brick wall is just one cousin connection away?

If you’ve been researching your family history for any length of time, you’ve likely hit at least one frustrating brick wall. You know the feeling—hours spent searching through records only to come up empty-handed, with that elusive ancestor seemingly vanishing into thin air. But what if the solution isn’t in finding more records, but in finding more relatives?

Enter MyHeritage‘s exciting new Cousin Finder feature. Released during RootsTech 2025, the Cousin Finder helps connect genealogists with potential cousins who may hold the missing pieces to your family history puzzles—without requiring DNA testing.

Why Finding Cousins Matters for Your Genealogy Research

Before jumping into the how-to, let’s first talk about the why.

Some researchers focus solely on their direct ancestral lines, but this approach can lead to dead ends. Here’s why expanding your search to include distant cousins is so valuable:

Your Ancestors Didn’t Live in Isolation

Our ancestors didn’t exist in a vacuum—they were part of families, communities, and social networks. When you hit a brick wall researching your great-grandfather, the solution might lie in understanding his siblings, cousins, neighbors, or associates.

Family Stories Travel Down Different Branches

Not all family information passes down every line equally. While your direct line might have lost touch with certain family stories, heirlooms, or photographs, a second or third cousin might have preserved exactly what you’re looking for:

• Family Bibles with recorded births, marriages, and deaths
• Old photographs with identifications written on the back
• Letters that mention relationships or family events
• Oral histories passed down through generations
• Documents like marriage certificates, property deeds, or wills

Collaborative Research Multiplies Results

Two researchers working together can accomplish more than one working alone. By connecting with cousins who share your research interests, you can:

• Split the workload of researching shared ancestors
• Compare notes and verify findings
• Share resources and access to different record collections
• Provide fresh perspectives on research problems. Never underestimate the power of having a second pair of eyes on your research.

What is MyHeritage’s Cousin Finder?

Cousin Finder is a new feature that MyHeritage unveiled at RootsTech 2025. As they described it during the conference, it’s “a new way to find DNA matches without actually taking a DNA test.”

The tool works by analyzing family tree data across MyHeritage’s member database to identify users who share common ancestors with you. It then displays these potential cousins along with the exact relationship pathway showing how you’re connected.

What makes this particularly valuable is that it can help you discover relatives who are actively researching your shared family lines but who haven’t taken DNA tests. This expands your potential collaboration network significantly beyond what traditional DNA matching provides.

How to Use MyHeritage’s Cousin Finder Feature

Let me walk you through the process of using this new tool:

Accessing Cousin Finder

1. Log in to your MyHeritage account
2. Hover over the “Discovery” tab in the main navigation
3. Click on “Cousin Finder” in the dropdown menu

When you first use the feature, MyHeritage will generate your cousin matches. This might take a few minutes if you’re using it for the first time or if it hasn’t been updated recently.

Important note: You must have a family tree on MyHeritage for this feature to work.

Understanding Your Cousin Matches

Once the system completes its analysis, you’ll see a list of potential cousins with several key pieces of information:

• The person’s name and profile picture
• How they’re related to you (2nd cousin, 3rd cousin once removed, etc.)
• The common ancestors you share

For each match, you can click “View Relationship” to see a detailed relationship path showing exactly how you connect to this person through your shared ancestors.

This visual representation makes it very easy to understand your connection.

Prioritizing Your Cousin Outreach

With potentially hundreds of cousin matches (I found 230 in my first search!), you’ll want to prioritize who to contact first. Consider these factors:

• Recent activity: Look for users who have been active on MyHeritage within the last few months. Someone who hasn’t logged in for several years is less likely to respond.
• Tree size: Users with larger family trees may have more information to share. While quality matters more than quantity, a substantial tree often indicates an engaged researcher.
• Shared photographs: Matches who have photos in their tree might have other visual records to share.
• Close relationships: While distant cousins can be valuable, those who are more closely related (2nd or 3rd cousins) might have more directly relevant information.

In my exploration, I found matches ranging from close relatives to fifth cousins, showing the reach of this tool.

Making Contact

Once you’ve identified promising cousin matches, it’s time to reach out. MyHeritage makes this easy with a “Connect” button on each match. This opens their messaging system where you can introduce yourself and explain your research interests.

When reaching out, consider:

1. Being clear about how you’re related
2. Mentioning specific research questions you have
3. Offering to share information you already have
4. Being respectful of their time and interests

Remember that genealogy is a collaborative pursuit, and approaching these new connections with a spirit of mutual benefit will yield the best results.

Expanding Your Genealogy Network

MyHeritage’s Cousin Finder represents a significant advancement in how we connect with fellow family researchers. By looking beyond the traditional methods of finding relatives through records or DNA alone, this tool opens new avenues for collaboration and discovery.

Our ancestors lived rich lives within complex social networks, and our research should reflect that reality. By expanding your genealogy network to include distant cousins and collaborators, you’re not just adding names to your tree—you’re creating a more complete, nuanced understanding of your family history.

Have you tried MyHeritage’s Cousin Finder feature yet? What connections have you made? Share your experiences in the comments below, and let’s continue building our collective family history knowledge together.