What is Six Degrees of Separation

Am I Related to Anyone Famous?

Have you ever wondered if you were related to someone famous? Many people have. You might be surprised to find that it's not that difficult to find out the truth.

The 6 Degrees of Separation

In 1929 Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy devised the idea that everyone is separated by only six degrees of separation. Meaning that linked to six people, you could connect any two people from all over the world. It seems incredible, but the idea caught on and became a play in 1990 and then a game using Kevin Bacon as the intended "link."

Frigyes Karinthy was quoted on the subject as saying, "A fascinating game grew out of this discussion. One of us suggested performing the following experiment to prove that the population of the Earth is closer together now than they have ever been before. We should select any person from the 1.5 billion inhabitants of the Earth – anyone, anywhere at all. He bet us that, using no more than five individuals, one of whom is a personal acquaintance, he could contact the selected individual using nothing except the network of personal acquaintances."

Perhaps you grew up with an uncle or grandmother who regaled you with tales of a famous person in the family, but you have never seen proof that you are actually related to this person.

Even if you heard the stories your whole life, it doesn't mean they were true, but it doesn't mean they weren't either. If you are itching to find out the truth, there are some really helpful resources online that can help you fill in the blanks of your family tree.

You can trace your family tree in a few different ways to see if you are related to anyone famous. The best ways are:

Genealogy Websites

Many people often later in life get interested in genealogy and tracing the roots of their family tree. What used to be a daunting task has been made simpler with technology, the internet, the Freedom of Information Act, and public records.

Armed with some simple information, anyone can go online and piece together their entire family tree going back generations. There are various genealogy websites to use to start your genealogical journey.

By starting an account with one of these services (charges may apply), you can trace your lineage and descent from your ancestors. You might learn a lot more than just whether or not you are related to someone famous.

Some of these websites include helpful tips on how to gather information, what you need to get the best results and what to do with it when you are done.

what does 6 degrees of separation mean

DNA Kits

The recent advances in DNA have made it pretty easy to find out where you come from and who you are related to. They now have home DNA kits where you swab your cheek for DNA and send it in. You will get a complete report back showing your DNA and all the people related to you that share your DNA.

This technique has been used to reunite children with their birth parents and long-lost siblings and to identify criminals in cold cases for murders committed years before.

Public Records Databases

You can also use a public records database like InfoTracer to find out all about different people. Not only can you pull up someone's profile and see relatives' names, but you can see an entire publicly available information including their criminal history, court cases, social media accounts, images, arrests, DUIs, warrants, marriages, divorces, and more. You could easily start your search here and then fill in the blanks with subsequent searches.

How to Start

Before starting your journey to find out if you are linked to a famous person, first, you need to gather some information. At the very least, you may need:

Names, dates of birth, and ages of your entire immediate family.
Also helpful are places of birth (for your parents) and places of death.
If you have the same information for your grandparents, even better.
Your mother and grandmother's maiden names are also helpful.
Obtain records of marriage and divorces within the family as well.

With this information in hand, enter the details into some type of search engine, starting with Google, then using a more refined approach that factors in public records and other sources. Once you start to see a pattern, you can branch out and search other family names as the web widens. Chances are based on the 6-degrees of separation idea; you will most likely find that you are (although distantly) related to someone famous. Maybe it will even be Kevin Bacon!