Can you look just like a distant ancestor? (facial, eyes, search)

[nubbin778]

A friend of mine posted a photo of one of her ancestors from the 1880s. What surprised me was just how similar they looked. Not just face but body type as well. Not to be mean, but my friend is real heavy set as in quite a bit of weight, yet the woman in the photo looked to be about just as heavy. I found it amazing just how similar they looked in every way. Coincidence?

[coschristi]

I do but nobody knows who she is!

And it’s funny because the one thing I heard my whole life was how much I didn’t look like my parents.

My uncle found some photographs while doing his genealogy research, taken during the late 1800’s by Rocky Mountain Joe; a famous Western photographer. He mailed a copy to my dad with a note that said “Recognize anyone?” ... & a smiley face.

That’s how my dad showed it to me; he handed me this picture & said “Recognize anyone?” And I almost fell over... Because there “I” was ... standing on a rock in either Boulder Canyon or at Chautauqua Park, with a group of young people. She is the only one making eye contact with the camera & even weirder; she has a mischievous smile. Kind of like she knew she would be one day looking through time.

Honestly it gave me goose-bumps ... her standing there in her white dress & parasol, smiling right at me.

[Crazee Cat Lady]

I found some pictures of my Husbands family on Ancestry.com, and the family resemblance is so strong....it floored me at first.
so yes you can.

[Sarahsez]

I read some place that you tend to look more like your great grandparents because of the way genes are distributed.

I have a brother that doesn't really look like either parent. He has the coloring of my my mom's side of the family. He is smaller framed than either parent. He looks a lot more like a male cousin on my dad's side than he does the rest of us siblings. I found a photo of my dad's maternal grandfather. There is a strong resemblance.

[601halfdozen0theother]

A few years ago a relative sent me a photograph of my paternal grandmother as a child of about 10. I about had a heart attack when I saw the photo - she looked exactly like me when I was about 10! Same facial shape, body type, eyes and mouth and straight hair! I never really knew her, as she died when I was only 3, so this connection was very meaningful to me.

I've seen pictures of her as an adult, and we no longer look much alike. She grew taller than I did, and her hair got darker than did mine.

When I was in my 20s I found one of her old outfits - a beautiful suit from about 1920 - and I fit into it perfectly except for the length of the skirt. I actually wore it for special occasions for several years, then sadly lost the jacket during one of my many moves.

[suzy_q2010]

When he was twenty something my younger son looked just like my father at about the same age.

I exchanged photos with a third cousin when I was researching one branch of my family. We laughed at how much our great aunts looked like each other.

However, you have to realize that people who are not related at all can look alike. Think celebrity impersonators.

[westsideboy]

I don't look much like my parents, and never thought I looked much like anyone else in my family............until I saw an old photo of my maternal grandfather in his 20s and 30s, with facial hair.

Wow, I am a dead ringer for him. Oddly, my brother is a close resemblance to our paternal grandmother when both were in their 20s. Other posters are right about how this can change over time. My p-grandfather lost his hair and gained weight by the time he was in his mid-30s, my brother has not, so now their respective age pictures look pretty different.

[Chava61]

Of course one can depending on the DNA combinations in your family tree.

[njkate]

Not really distant but when I finally located a picture of my great grandfather I just about fell out of my chair as it was like looking at a picture of my one brother, uncanny

[Sassybluesy]

Kind of a weird story...


My dad had a cousin who was adopted when she was about 4 yrs. old. My great aunt , (my grandma's sister) and her husband adopted her. Let's say her name was Gina. Gina also had a birth sister, but she was not adopted into the same family.


Gina's kids (our cousins) never knew her mother was adopted. Gina didn't want them to know. And they knew Gina's sister, but always thought she was a dear friend of Gina's. They never knew the sister was their aunt. But my dad was like 7 years older than Gina, so he knew, and consequently, we knew. But we never let on that we knew.


I inherited a bunch of old pictures from my grandma. Some of the pictures are from the 40's (I'd guess) and they're pictures of a group of young women, standing by a car. In ALL of these particular pictures there's a lady who looks JUST LIKE Gina's oldest daughter, my second cousin. And I mean JUST like her.


I'd LOVE to know who she was. I suspect it's Gina's birth mom.