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Discover if your ancestors had ties to the Mayflower or early colonial America. This extensive index includes approximately 200,000 individual names drawn from The Mayflower Descendant Journal and other trusted genealogical sources. Most records date from the 1600s to the 1800s, with some entries reaching back to the 1400s and extending as recently as the early 1900s.
Whether you’re tracing your family to the original Plymouth settlers or exploring New England roots, this collection is an invaluable tool.
Who Were the Mayflower Descendants? A Brief History
In September of 1620, a ship called the Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers with hopes of starting a new life across the Atlantic. Among them were Separatist Puritans—commonly known as the Pilgrims—who sought religious freedom, as well as others looking for opportunity in the New World.
After a difficult 66-day journey, the ship landed far north of its intended destination in Virginia, arriving instead at Cape Cod in what is now Massachusetts. There, the settlers drafted the Mayflower Compact, a foundational document that established a rudimentary form of self-government—one of the earliest in American history.
Only about half of the original passengers survived the brutal first winter. Those who did went on to help found Plymouth Colony, one of the earliest successful English settlements in North America. Over the following decades, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren would spread throughout New England and beyond, leaving behind a trail of records and stories that endure to this day.
Today, millions of Americans can trace their roots to one or more of those early Mayflower passengers. Being a Mayflower descendant is a point of pride for many, as it connects modern families to some of the earliest chapters in the nation’s history.
This index draws from The Mayflower Descendant and other key sources to help you uncover those early links and explore how your ancestors may have shaped America’s beginnings.