Amanda Seyfried Explores Her Father's Family Tree | Finding Your Roots | Ancestry®

Actress Amanda Seyfried knew a lot about her mother's side of the family, but was keen to know more about her father's. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Finding Your Roots helps her travel back multiple generations as part of the January 7, 2025 premiere of Finding Your Roots on PBS.

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[stephanieyee]

Wow, to think Amanda's father's ancestors lived in basically the same area for at least 400 years is incredible. To see the marriage certificate of her ancestors is a wonderful gift.

[Fiddleydb]

As a child, I wanted to be famous JUST so I could be on this show and find out more about my mom's bio family

[elizabethelliott]

What a richly fulfilling experience for her! She's lovely and well spoken. Dr Gates is always wonderful.

[pollyannaprinciple]

I love the old writing in documents. Like Amanda, I think this writing is beautiful too.

[Fascinatingstreet]

This randomly popped up on my home page. How cool! I love Amanda Seyfried so much ❤

[invadertifxiii]

Discovering my Polish and Slovakian ancestors changed mine ❤

[michelleg]

My grandmother's line I knew nothing about at all, my grandfather's lines were more well known and easier to track. But my grandmother, we knew zero about her line so I did her tree and with help from some good people I got a break through but what I did not expect was to go back to the medieval period for one of her lines but I did. So we are talking 1400's here. It was amazing to find such a degree of history for her lineage.

[connorbell]

I managed to find my biological grandfather after going my whole life with stories of who he might be. I know it bothered my father greatly, that he never knew who his father was. Unfortunately he past away without knowing. Ancestry is truly amazing.

[safajaify]

I thought they would make a fun take on the fact that she participated in a movie where she had 3 possible dads 😂😂😂

[irenemak]

The Dutch in Pennsylvania was actually ""Duitsch"". Germans.

[lokend]

That is the reason why roots are important, just 4 generations would be enough that everyone could support one another.

[courtneyholland]

I need get back to researching to my family history

[Marymare-katniss]

So beautiful there is no way I can know my roots

[eytonshalomsandiego]

dont care if she is an actress, i have not seen but one of them, the films, but god, she is so kind seeming, and sweet, seeming....

[josephinemiller]

I have my dads paternal and maternal trees figured out as well as my moms maternal side, which is German. But having difficulty with my moms paternal side. I do know that my German grandfather served in WWII and was a prisoner of war here in the US. Unfortunately, that’s all I know about his side, other than who his parents are. I wish I knew more.

[WWoggins]

Living generation after generation in the same village was the norm in Europe until the 19th century. Existence was tied to the land you owned, even if just a small plot, you lived off the land. Land was not sold and bought like today. You inherited it, and then you kept it. Period. So everyone largely stayed in the same village, or married someone from the the next village at most. There is a modern myth that people have always migrated. But the overwhelming majority of humans in human history lived very close to where their ancestors had lived for 10s or even 100s of generations.
All of this completely changed in the 19th and 20th centuries with the industrial age.

[happykt]

Population: (as at: 31 December 2003)
Neckarsteinach: 3, 160
Darsberg: 547
Grein: 142
Neckarhausen: 266
Total: 4, 115

[AGirlofYesterday]

Wow, if she's one of the few people who can trace her lineage back to the 16th century, I must be one of even fewer who can trace mine to the year 1007! Very enlightening, thank you.

[Alan-lvrw]

Ancestry told me I’m 50% Scandinavian, 30% English/Irish, and 20% German/Dutch. Exactly what I expected.

[RonaldReaganRocks]

Amanda definitely looks German. She is beautiful.