3-star record hints is FamilySearch’s system to provide hints to more experienced researchers and genealogists.

What Are Hints, and Why All the Stars?

A hint is a possible match between a historical record and someone in the Family Tree—such as one of your ancestors. It is an invitation from FamilySearch to evaluate the information and determine if the person listed in the record is the same as the person in the Tree. If so, you can attach the record to their person page on FamilySearch, and even discover added details about an ancestor or relative’s story.

Previously, FamilySearch has only shared hints that are ranked as either 4- or 5-star quality. A 5-star hint is the strongest potential connection between a record and your ancestor. A 3-star hint is weaker because the information on the historical record and the potentially matching person page contains more differences and are more likely to not be a match.

With any hint, you should examine the record carefully to see if it is an accurate match. Because evaluating 3-star hints require more skill, they are not shown by default. We recommend that only experienced researchers and genealogists turn on access to them.

Learn more in the article “Introducing 3-Star Record Hints for Experienced Researchers.”