US Records · Ellis Island search
The passenger records of the Port of New York are free to search, and most Polish immigrants between 1892 and 1924 are in them. Finding your ancestor is usually a question of spelling, not of whether the record exists.
Where to search
| Website | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation | The official free database of New York arrivals, with images of the manifests; a free account is needed to view them |
| FamilySearch | A separate index of New York passenger lists, made by different volunteers, so a name misread in one index may be correct in the other |
| Steve Morse’s One-Step tools | Free search forms that query the Ellis Island database with more flexible options: sounds-like names, age ranges, town of origin, ship and date |
Search tips for Polish names
- Search with the surname only, then filter by year of arrival and age
- Try the spelling a German or Dutch clerk would have written: W as V, SZ as SCH, CZ as TSCH, Ł as L
- Search by the first letters of the surname with a sounds-like option
- Search by the town of last residence instead of the name, if you know it
- Look for the relatives the family joined: they may be easier to find
Using what you already know
The naturalization file gives the ship and date of arrival after 1906, and the 1900 to 1930 censuses give the year of immigration. With the ship and date, you can browse the manifest page by page, which always works even when the index fails.
Read both pages
From 1907 the manifest runs across two facing pages. The right-hand page gives the physical description, the place of birth and the nearest relative left behind in the old country; many people only ever look at the left. Our guide to reading a passenger manifest goes through every column.
If they are not there
- They may have landed at Baltimore, Philadelphia or Boston, or crossed from Canada
- They may have arrived before 1892, through Castle Garden
- They may have traveled first or second class: cabin passengers were usually inspected on board, not at Ellis Island, but they are still on the manifests
- The name may be indexed under the next or previous line, or under a relative’s surname
Ellis Island did not change names. The manifest name is the one written at the port of departure, and it is the name to search in Poland.
How we can help
Immigration & Passenger Records finds every crossing a person made, at every port, and reads each manifest in full for the clues most searches miss.
Keep reading
Ellis Island and Castle Garden