Daily AncestorNearest relative
Nearest relative on a passenger list is the name and address of a close relative or friend left behind in the country the immigrant came from.
The column was added to the passenger list form used from February 1907, worded as the name and complete address of the nearest relative or friend in the country whence the alien came. It stayed on the forms used until 1924, and border card manifests asked it too.
It often names a parent, wife or brother, sometimes with a village that appears nowhere else, which makes it one of the best clues for tracing a family back across the ocean. Do not confuse it with the column a little further on that names the relative or friend the person was joining in America.
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Nearest relative." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/nearest-relative. Last checked 2026-10-12.