Category: Dominican ancestry

Spanish Last Names

For this next post I want to change things up a bit. For those of us that were raised in Hispanic household, things may or may not come naturally when understanding the surnames and how it works. I’m going to use visual examples for this post. In the Hispanic community, and it is true no…

By Anna Bayala March 20, 2018 0

Slavery in the Caribbean

It took me a long time to write this as it was hard to read some of the stuff. While I provide many references at the bottom, please take breaks from reading them, which is what I did.  Please feel free to comment below as I would love to hear feedback from all. Researching slavery…

By Anna Bayala March 4, 2018 1

PARES Migratory Movements Database

Spain’s archives, better known as PARES, has many surprises.  One of their surprises is their databases that can help many throughout the Caribbean where Spain may have at one time claimed the land.  This database is called Ibero-American Migratory Movements or Movimientos Migratorios. Many may not realize that this database exists but it is there…

By Anna Bayala June 22, 2017 0

African Holocaust and the Impacts to Our Ancestors

One thing I have noticed in my research in genealogy is the close of the nonexistence of research of African ancestry over the years. Today more are interested as their DNA is providing a visual into their past; African ancestry.  People are now looking to find and understand and are faced with the ugliness that…

By Anna Bayala February 21, 2017 0

Seeing Brazilian Church Records – Searchable Databases

When I first took my DNA test years ago with 23andMe, the last thing I expected to find was Brazilian cousins.  As I wrote to them, many stated that they are always known that their ancestors were from Brazil and didn’t realize that they would match with cousins from the Caribbean.  Although I am born…

By Anna Bayala January 26, 2017 0

How Recent was an Ancestor from a Region?

One of the struggles that we deal with is trying to figure out when an ancestor from a specific region of the world occurred when reviewing your DNA results. 23andMe recently added a new feature to DNA results that will help many in determining when to search for a specific ancestor and where.  The new…

By Anna Bayala January 14, 2017 1