My 2026 Genealogy Bingo Card

It’s that time of year again!  When I dramatically overestimate my free time and create a genealogy bingo card that is equal parts motivation, chaos, and delusional wishful thinking.  Here’s what I’m hoping to chase down in 2026… assuming the archives don’t distract me with twelve fresh rabbit holes first.

What is a Genealogy Bingo Card?

Well, I’m so glad you asked!

A genealogy bingo card is a grid of squares, where each square contains a goal you hope to accomplish during the year.  Think of a bingo card, except instead of numbers someone calls out in your grandmother’s small town rec hall, these are personalized new year’s resolutions related to your genealogy journey. (If you don’t know what a bingo card is, please ask our super friendly and always available friend, google).

The size of the card (i.e. the number of squares, hence questions you have) is completely up to the individual!  If you’re just starting your genealogy journey or know this next year may not have the free time to spotlight genealogy, maybe a 2×2 card is enough.  If you have a lot more specific questions or plan to be digging around a lot this year, maybe a 4×4 or even 5×5 card is calling to you.

I have a variety of questions ranging from “I really should know this already” to “I must know more about this family drama” to “maybe I’ll get lucky”.

How to Use a Genealogy Bingo Card

I think the fun part of this exercise is turning your genealogy to do list (which I know we all have) into a game!  It is a great motivational tool or peer-pressure device for future you!  You can play it just like normal Bingo, in which you do your research like normal and cross out the questions as you answer them.  OR!  You can pick a way to “win” – like normal bingo where you just need a straight line of solved questions, or focus on the four-corners first, or go for the blackout because we aren’t quitters!

It’s also a guaranteed way to make sure you wander wildly off-course at least once, let’s be honest, but ensures you have something to come back to when you get overwhelmed.

My Genealogy Bingo Card

Alright!  So my Genealogy Bingo Card for 2026 is below, determined by my burning desire to figure out what the heck my great-grandmother Eliza’s maiden name was to the never ending curiosity to know who on earth Harvey was and why the family felt the need to call him out in my 3x-great-grandmother Amanda’s Obituary.

Suggested Bingo Squares

Are you interested in starting your own Genealogy Bingo Card?  Here are some goals and questions to get you started!

  • Find the unknown parents of an ancestor
  • Identify the unknown person in a portrait
  • Identify the family’s earliest confirmed immigrant ancestor
  • Create a map showing every county my ancestors lived in (yes, it will be chaotic)
  • Locate that one missing marriage record I’ve sworn “should be somewhere” for years
  • Track down a probate file for an ancestor I suspect was dramatic enough to leave one
  • Find a land deed that finally explains why everyone kept swapping farms like PokĂŠmon cards
  • Look for a newspaper notice with a juicy detail (scandal optional but obviously preferred)
  • Confirm at least one ancestor’s middle name that appears differently in Every. Single. Record.
  • Message two DNA matches I’ve procrastinated on (and who probably forgot they tested)
  • Figure out if that one mysterious hint match belongs to the “wrong family” or the “right scandal”
  • Create a color-coded DNA cluster chart without losing my sanity or my highlighters
  • Scan and digitize at least 50 old photos
  • Label and organize at least 50 documents
  • Organize one branch of the family tree (doesn’t have to be the messy one)
  • Visit a local cemetery and photograph ancestor headstones (even if they aren’t my ancestor!  FindAGrave could always use some help!)
  • Buy a new genealogy book or tool and actually use it!
  • Write a short story, bio sketch, or diary-style entry about one ancestor
  • Accidentally fall into a rabbit hole for an ancestor I wasn’t even researching
  • Discover something weird and delightful that has nothing to do with the goal list
  • Interview one elderly family member for their memories on their childhood
  • Get that heirloom from the box in your closet out and turn it into a nice display piece

Will I achieve a blackout on this bingo card? HAHAHAbsolutely not. Will I have fun trying? Yes. Will I get wildly off track somewhere in March and start researching the neighbor’s great-uncle instead? Also yes. But that’s half the joy of genealogy research — the chaos, the curiosity, and the stories waiting to be pieced together.

See you on the other side!