Search and Match

The FamilySearch Search and Match resources are used to search, match, and find hints for persons in FamilySearch Family Tree. Users of third-party clients can search for a person by name, birth or death, or by information of spouse or parents. The Tree Person Search resource will return information for deceased Family Tree persons. The Tree Person Search resource is recommended when a specific person in the Family Tree is not known because it will return a variety of tree records that match all or part of the search criteria provided.
For information regarding Family Tree search, please see the Family Tree Search guide.

In comparison, the Person Matches By Example resource is recommended when attempting to find a specific person record that could be in the tree prior to adding a new person. This is primarily used to avoid adding duplicate records to the tree.

The Match by Tree Person ID resource is recommended for finding duplicate Family Tree persons and for finding record hints in FamilySearch Historical Records Archives.

For more information on matching and hinting, see the Family Tree Matching and Hinting guide.