Hungarian Genealogy & DNA: Comparing Ancestry.com & MyHeritage.com

There has been considerably discussion in our Facebook group regarding DNA testing and which companies are the most beneficial in regards to Hungarian research. While both Ancestry and MyHeritage offer powerful tools, they serve different strategic purposes for those tracing roots in Hungary. This post will highlight the pros and cons of the DNA tests and matches available through both Ancestry and MyHeritage.

DNA with Ancestry.com

Pros:

• Database: Because Ancestry is the market leader in the U.S., Canada, and the UK, it is the best tool for finding "cousin matches" among the Hungarian diaspora who emigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  
  
• Ethnicity Origins - Regions: Again, because Ancestry is a market leader with DNA testing, their ethnicity estimates are superior to MyHeritage. Ancestry's last update from Oct 2025 significantly expanded their regions and sub-regions.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Clusters: Ancestry introduced an enhanced version of their "custom clusters" tool in October 2025. This tool allows you adjust the filter to include matches as low as 20 cM, which is vital for deeper research, and proceeds to automatically sort your matches. This is very similar to the "Auto Clusters" introduced by MyHeritage in 2019, though with greater filter capabilities. The example below is my most recent cluster created at Ancestry for a branch of my maternal great-grandmother's family.
  
  
  
  
  

Cons:

• RAW DNA: While Ancestry provides the option to download your RAW DNA with their settings, they do not allow you to view or download matching segment data with your DNA matches. This is crucial information for determining proper DNA connections, as well as triangulated matches (3+ individuals sharing the same segment, thus indicating they all descend from a common ancestor.).
  
  Ancestry also does not allow you to upload your RAW DNA from another company - you must test with Ancestry.
  
  
• Filters: Ancestry allows you to filter your DNA matches by Tree details (private, public or unlinked trees) and Shared DNA (close matches, distant matches, custom centimorgan range). They furthermore allow you to filter by Groups (user-created), Journeys (Ancestry-created) and Parent. From a genealogical standpoint, I personally feel these tools don't particularly help us well with accurately narrowing down our search.
  
  
• Pricing: DNA tests through Ancestry are undeniably the more expensive option. They regularly have sales throughout the year, however, those sales can vary between $29, $39 and $59; while the non-sale test goes for $99 (including shipping).
  
  

DNA with MyHeritage.com

Pros:

• Database: More people currently living in Hungary and neighboring countries (Slovakia, Romania, Serbia) tend to test with MyHeritage. Testing with MyHeritage will increase your chances of finding local matches whose ancestors and immediate family remained in Europe.
  
  
• RAW DNA: MyHeritage is a step ahead of Ancestry, and has been for many years, in that they do provide and allow you to download the matching segment data with your DNA matches. This is crucial and extremely important data when analyzing and conducting DNA research. This segment data allows you to see (and download) on which chromosome you share DNA with a match. You can then take that downloaded segment data and input it into an application, such as DNA Painter.
  
  

  

  Advanced options > Download shared DNA info

  
  
  

  

  Screenshot of my personal DNA Painter account, using the
  downloaded segment data from MyHeritage and GEDmatch.
  This significantly helps with triangulated matches (a shared common ancestor).

  
  
  
• Filters: MyHeritage allows you to filter your DNA matches by tree details (user-submitted family trees), relationships (close family, extended family, and distant relatives) and locations. The locations filter may be the most beneficial, in that you can specifically narrow down your matches to only individuals presently residing in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, etc.
  
  

  

  Filter by Location > Hungary

  
  
• Pricing: The standard price for DNA kits at MyHeritage are $89 (including shipping), which is already $10 cheaper than Ancestry. While they have sales, the prices of their DNA kits can range from $25, $29, $36 and $59. MyHeritage currently has a sale for DNA tests at $36, ending at midnight on February 24, 2026 PST (early morning February 25th for those on the East Coast or in Europe).

Cons:

• RAW DNA: MyHeritage previously allowed users to upload their RAW DNA from other companies, for a small fee, however, during the summer of 2025 this unfortunately came to an end. MyHeritage now requires you to purchase their DNA kit.
  
  
• Ethnicity Estimate: Because of the smaller user-base at MyHeritage, their ethnicity estimates are not as accurate or reliable as Ancestry.com.

Conclusion

Test with both Ancestry and MyHeritage while they have sales on their DNA tests. Ancestry will help you locate family members from branches of immigrant-line ancestors, while MyHeritage will help you locate family members still in Europe. Because Ancestry does not allow you to download or view specific segment data between matches, it is always suggested to upload your RAW DNA to GEDmatch.com.

New-Updated Databases & Collections: December 2025

Each month we will highlight the new and updated databases and collections beneficial to Hungarian genealogy. This post will showcase the month of December 2025.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch had previously indexed a vast majority of the baptism records for the Catholic Church; they've now begun indexing the marriage and death records.

25 Dec 2025:    Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1994 (7,025,204 total records)

25 Dec 2025:    Hungary, Civil Registration, 1895-1980 (13,080,318 total records)

25 Dec 2025:    Slovakia, Church and Synagogue Books, 1592-1935 (19,479,296 total records)
24 Dec 2025:    Hungary, Jewish Vital Records Index, 1800-1945 (105,717 total records)
03 Dec 2025:    Hungary, Catholic Church Records, 1636-1895 (18,253,083 total records)

Holocaust Era Archives

A major collaborative effort between the Zekelman Holocaust Center and the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) has resulted in a new searchable website holding over 160,000 frames of microfilm. The records were sources from the Hungarian National Archives (MNL) and they detail the persecution and seizure of property during World War II. The database is fully keyword-searchable for names, as well as words. While the physical reels were sourced from the National Archives of Hungary in the 1960s, this is the first time the complete collection has been made fully searchable and viewable online to the general public.

Hungarian Documents Microfilm Collection

Hungarian National Archives (MNL)

19 Dec 2025: The Hungarian National Archives (MNL) has expanded their Civil Registrations database and began using AI to interpret handwriting on the documents. They have successfully fully-indexed the Civil Registration records for Aszód District in Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County, covering these localities:

• Aszód
• Bernecebaráti
• Galgamácsa
• Ipolydamásd
• Ipolytölgyes
• Kemence
• Kismaros
• Kóspallag
• Letkés
• Márianosztra
• Nagybörzsöny
• Perőcsény
• Szob
• Szokolya
• Tésa
• Verőcemaros
• Vácegres
• Vámosmikola
• Zebegény

Source Article:
https://mnl.gov.hu/mnl/ol/hirek/forradalmi_fejlesztessel_segiti_a_csaladfakutatokat_az_mnl
Source Database:
https://adatbazisokonline.mnl.gov.hu/adatbazis/allami-anyakonyvek-kezirasfelismeressel

4 Dec 2025: A new database was introduced highlighting civilian and military losses, examining the death registers between 1944 and 1952, as well as war-damaged documents from 1944–1945. There was previously no known compiled database that processed the World War II casualties of an entire country in a similar fashion.

Source Article:
https://mnl.gov.hu/mnl/ol/hirek/uj_adatbazis_magyarorszag_1944_1945_os_katonai_birtokbavetelerol

Source Database: 
https://mo44-45.mnl.gov.hu/

Scientists Just Proved Where the First Hungarians Really Came From

Mt. Yamantau, the highest point in South Ural Mountains.

For over a thousand years, we’ve been trying to piece together the "prehistory" of the Magyars. We had the medieval chronicles (which are half-legend), we had the linguistic link to the Uralic languages, and we had archaeology. But there was always a missing piece: The DNA.

How do you prove that a group of people in the 10th-century Carpathian Basin are the exact same people who lived thousands of miles away in the Ural Mountains just a generation or two prior?

A massive new study just published in the journal Cell (led by Balázs Gyuris, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, and David Reich) finally settled the debate. Using 1.2 million genetic markers from 131 ancient individuals, they’ve mapped the "smoking gun" of Hungarian origins.
The study used a technique called Identity-by-Descent (IBD). Think of it like a genetic tracer dye. When two people share long, identical stretches of DNA, it means they share a very recent common ancestor.

The researchers found these "long shared haplotypes" between the 10th-century Magyars in Hungary and a group from the Southern Urals called the Karayakupovo culture. It proves that the "conquering" Magyars didn't just pick up Uralic culture along the way; they were literally the descendants of the people living in the Southern Urals.

One of the most surprising things the DNA reveals is the speed of the migration. Historically, some thought the Magyars spent centuries wandering through the Russian steppes. But the high level of shared DNA suggests the move from the Urals to the Carpathian Basin was incredibly fast—likely happening within just a few generations. This was a organized, rapid migration, not a slow drift.

Have you ever heard of Friar Julian? In the 1230s, this Hungarian monk traveled east and claimed he found a group of people in the Volga region who still spoke Hungarian. For centuries, historians wondered if he made it up. The DNA shows genetic continuity in the Volga-Kama region all the way into the 14th century (the Chiyalik culture). These people were the genetic "cousins" who stayed behind while the rest of the Magyars moved west.

Finally, the study shows that the Magyars weren't a "pure" isolated group. By the time they arrived in the Carpathian Basin, they were a complex alliance. They carried a mix of:

• Uralic ancestry (their core roots)
• East Eurasian signatures (from deep Siberia/Lake Baikal)
• Steppe ancestry (from their time interacting with Turkic and Iranian groups)

For a long time, the "Uralic origin" theory was under fire from people who preferred different historical narratives. This paper effectively ends that debate. It tells us that the Hungarian story is one of incredible mobility, a rapid "leap" across Eurasia, and a deep-seated connection to the mountains of the East that survived for millennia in our genetic code.

If you’re a science nerd or a history buff, this is the definitive paper to read.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/396632194_Long_shared_haplotypes_identify_the_southern_Urals_as_a_primary_source_for_the_10th-century_Hungarians

Hungarian National Archives (MNL) Helps Genealogists With Revolutionary Development

The Hungarian National Archives (MNL) has begun using AI handwriting recognition to fully index the Civil Registration records which began in 1895. Their announcement states "the technology has so far been applied to the civil registry offices of some settlements in Pest County, but according to plans, it will be extended to other state civil registry offices in the future."

From what I could find, it appears these localities have been completed for Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County:

• Aszód
• Bernecebaráti
• Galgamácsa
• Ipolydamásd
• Ipolytölgyes
• Kemence
• Kismaros
• Kóspallag
• Letkés
• Márianosztra
• Nagybörzsöny
• Perőcsény
• Szob
• Szokolya
• Tésa
• Verőcemaros
• Vácegres
• Vámosmikola
• Zebegény

The entirety of the documents are transcribed, along with spelling variations (and variance percentages). And I mean the *entire document*.

The article can be read here: https://mnl.gov.hu/mnl/ol/hirek/forradalmi_fejlesztessel_segiti_a_csaladfakutatokat_az_mnl
The database can be found here: https://adatbazisokonline.mnl.gov.hu/.../allami...

Below are two example images:
1) Shows how detailed the AI handwriting recognition is, with every word underlined and providing a transcribed word(s).
2) The search function works incredibly well. I immediately found the death record for my great-grandfather's sister-in-law, which I hadn't been able to previously locate.

Hungarian National Archives (MNL) - Civil Registration Records for Csongrád-Csanád and Somogy Counties

An update from the Hungarian National Archives (MNL) states they've added Civil Registration records from 1895-1980 for Csongrád-Csanád and Somogy Counties. This is in addition to the Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kisun County records that are already available.

Click on "Hierachia" to browse the folders and find specific content: https://adatbazisokonline.mnl.gov.hu/adatbazis/allami-anyakonyvek/informacio

Milestones at MagyarRoots.com & Memorial Day Sale

In light of our website's recent launch within the past month, our name re-branding, as well as our Facebook group reaching 7,000 members and it also being Memorial Day, we thought we would offer a sale on professional research services to help members trace their family history, build family trees, or solve genealogical mysteries.

It took several years to get the website back up, and it still needs some work, but we are now offering the same tens of thousands of indexed and transcribed material that was previously available; there are nearly 70,000 marriage records alone.

Current Projects at Magyar Roots:

Gazetteer Maps

• These are slowly being updated. The Jewish gazetteer map is mostly done, concerning Hungary-proper and Slovakia, with details about content in several Romanian archives.
• The Roman Catholic gazetteer map is currently comprised of Abaúj-Torna, Bereg, Borsod, Gömör, Hont, Sáros and Ung counties.

Surname Database

• Our former website had a Surname Database, where researchers could contribute the surnames and localities in which they were researching, in hopes of making connections with others researching either the same surnames or localities. We are working on bringing this back.

Search Form

• It would be significantly easier to be able to search the mass amount of data presented by our website through a search form. My goal is for it to be a detailed form that allows for many search variables; such as surname, year range, localities, keywords, etc.
  
  

Memorial Day Sale

To highlight this progress and what is expected to come, we have decided to offer our largest sale yet - 50% off! Research is currently conducted at $40/hour, which would make the sale price $20/hour.

All client research projects vary greatly, ranging from small to large, depending entirely on what you're ultimately seeking to discover. Does your family have a story that needs verification? Are you struggling with the language barrier when presented with digitized documents? We can help you!

Send us a message through our Contact Form explaining what kind of research you're interested in having completed. We will conduct preliminary research, free of charge, to determine record availability and get a general idea of the scope of the project. We will then report back to you with a synopsis of our preliminary research and an estimate for the project.

This Memorial Day sale for 50% off research is active from Monday, May 27th until Friday, May 31st. Please contact us before then to lock in this sale offer

Hungarian Genealogy: Research Tip #14: Additional or Second Surnames

There may be instances during your Hungarian research where you come upon an ancestor, or an entire family (sometimes even generations), listed with two surnames. This practice was common throughout Hungary, though it rises in prevalence as you near Slavic borders to the north and south.

In larger towns or villages with many individuals sharing the same name, such as a common name like Nagy Mihály, it could quickly become confusing on who was being discussed. When they were alive, it would have become beneficial to use an additional or second surname to help differentiate themselves from the other Nagy Mihály in the same community.

The additional surnames that were chosen depended entirely on the individual. You'll see from the examples below that the additional surname could fall into many of the same categories as typical Hungarian surnames. The additional surname could've reflected a place of origin, a family name, an occupation or even describing their physical appearance. A previous article on the meaning of Hungarian surnames can be found here.

Here are some examples that I could find with explanations on their usage:

Multi-Generational:

• Gombás Mihály was married to Gajdos Sára on 14 Jan 1778 in Tiszavasvári, with Sára from neighboring Tiszadob. After their marriage, Mihály became known as Dobi Gombás Mihály to differentiate himself from the other Gombás Mihály in the village - there were many. Dobi is clearly indicative of his wive's origins. Their two sons, János (1782-1850) and Bálint (1800-1829), also continued to use Dobi Gombás, with János passing the name onto his own son Dobi Gombás Bálint (1822-1884).
  
  
• Sometime between 1771-1781, Tóth Mihály was married to Erzsébet Handa in Tiszadob, Szabolcs county. The help differentiate himself from the other Tóth Mihály' in the village, including the below mentioned Tépei Tóth Mihály, he went as Boros Tóth Mihály. Boros is indicative of the family's production of wine in Tiszadob.
  
  Their son, Boros Tóth Mihály (1781-1846) continued to use the name and also passed it on for several generations. All nine of his children between two wives (Tóth Mária from neighboring Kesznyetén and Gorzás Sára from Tiszadob) used Boros Tóth as their surname. Only two of their sons passed the name onto their children: Boros Tóth Károly (1826-?) and Boros Tóth Sándor (1839-?).
  
  All nine of the children of Boros Tóth Károly (1826-?) used Boros Tóth as their surname, however only two sons passed the name on:
  • Boros Tóth Károly (1852-1913): his four children used Boros Tóth and two sons passed the name on:
    • Boros Tóth Sándor (1873-1952): he immigrated to America and became Alex Toth.
    • Boros Tóth Károly (1881-?): his three children used Boros Tóth
  • Boros Tóth Imre (1854-?): his three children used Boros Tóth, though they all died in infancy.

Immediate Family:

• An entirely different Gombás Mihály from the one mentioned above was married to Katalin Sziki on 4 Jan 1797 in Tiszavasvári. Mihály himself, as far as I have been able to find, never took on an additional name himself. However, out of the eight children this couple had (three of them male), one daughter took on an additional name: Sziki Gombás Katalin. This may reflect the number of other Gombás Katalin that were in the village at the same time, considering only she chose to and none of her siblings.
  
  
• Tóth Mihály was married to Márczin Sára on 7 Jan 1767 in Tépe, Bihar county. Sometime after 1774, when their last child was born in Tépe, they moved to Tiszadob, Szabolcs county. He became known as Tépei Tóth Mihály, with the -i suffix on Tépei meaning 'from'. Only one of their children continued to use the name, Tépei Tóth János (1778-1834), however it did not continue with his own children.

There are instances where abbreviations are used for the additional surname and sometimes all you may find is an abbreviation. There are also instances of the additional surname being used individually, without the proper original surname. A great example provided in our Facebook group today can be found below - Nagy is the proper surname, while Zsiros is the additional surname. These are the variations you may come across:

• Nagy
• Nagy Zsiros
• Zs. Nagy
• Zsiros Nagy
• Zsiros

Unless otherwise mentioned within the records, additional or second surnames do not denote nobility.