Faces of the Past: Unveiling Family Resemblances Through Generations
Exploring the Fascinating World of Genetic Lookalikes and Ancestral Connections
As a child, I vividly remember exploring our attic and discovering a vintage photograph of some family members. The black-and-white photo had aged to a sepia tone and was mounted on cardboard. Someone had carefully handwritten the names and drawn lines to each person in pencil. When I asked my father about the photo, he didn't know much about it. This was before my interest in genealogy began, but even then, I was eager to learn who these people were.
Years later, I cleaned and framed the photo. Upon closer inspection, I noticed a striking resemblance between my sister and the younger woman in the photograph, our Great Grand Aunt, Olga Ludwiga May. If my sister styled her hair like Olga, they could have been near twins.
A study found that physical and personality traits—such as weight, height, smoking habits, and education level—were correlated in lookalike pairs, suggesting that a shared genome influences not only facial similarity but also common habits and behaviors. An interesting case involves two baseball players named Brady Feigl, who look alike, play the same position, and even had the same elbow surgery by the same doctor. A DNA test in 2019 confirmed they were not biologically related.
One of the joys of genealogy is meeting "new" cousins and exploring our similarities and differences. Do we look alike? Do we share features with our common ancestors? How much of who we are is influenced by nature versus nurture?
Recently, my daughter asked about doppelgängers, which are people who look like you. This topic has been active in our family since my daughter gave birth to my first granddaughter. The family immediately noticed how much the baby resembled my daughter, and my mother remarked that the baby looked like me as well.
FamilySearch now offers a tool called Compare-a-Face to see if you share family resemblances with your ancestors. MyHeritage allows you to date, colorize, and animate your family photos, which I used to create the following video.
I enjoy seeing the similarities among my family members. Here are some of my favorites.
Do you notice family resemblances in your relatives? Share your stories in the comments below.
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Thanks for the Compare-A-Face tip - I just spent FOUR hours comparing faces and had the BEST time! Not to mention the great resemblances I confirmed!