Top 10 Reasons To Climb Your Family Tree

Think genealogy is just for grannies? You’re missing out on the best story of all – the story of you! Here’s why family history ought to be your hobby.

1. It’s America’s second most popular hobby.

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Genealogy ranks behind gardening as America's top pastime.

2. Genealogy websites are the second most visited category of sites on the interwebs.

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Its competitor in the top spot? Porn.

3. It’s a billion dollar industry and growing.

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Top genealogy website Ancestry.com was sold in 2012 for $1.6 Billion and may now be on the market again with an estimated price tag of $2.5 to $3 Billion.

4. Famous people do it.

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Hollywood is all about genealogy with TV shows like Who Do You Think You Are? and Finding Your Roots featuring celebrities like Kelly Clarkson, Tina Fey, and Chelsea Handler.

5. You have cousins everywhere just waiting to be discovered.

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According to Ancestry.com’s estimates of their DNA database, a long layover at LAX could give you the chance to see as many as 39 relatives.

6. Uncovering family history can be scandalous.

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Ben Affleck got into hot water when he asked that the discovery of his slave-owning ancestry be edited out of an episode of Finding Your Roots.

7. Genealogy makes you a better person.

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Research shows that kids who know their family history are more grounded and better able to deal with life’s challenges.

8. Genealogy is going high tech.

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DNA tests allow genetic genealogists to spit in a tube, mail it to a lab, and connect with cousins online. Companies like Ancestry.com and 23andMe have each tested more than a million users.

9. It's so high tech it can now bring back the dead, sort of

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Genetic genealogists were able to assemble the genome of a man who lived 200 years ago using DNA from his living descendants.

10. It's the hobby without end.

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The further you go back, the more people who were involved in making you. Go back only 200 years and you have 128 5th great-grandparents to research. It’s a math thing. That’s a lot of folks having sexy time to make you. So get busy…with your genealogy!