Daily AncestorPassenger list
A passenger list is the record of the people aboard a ship arriving at a U.S. port from abroad, kept by the federal government from 1820.
Federal lists begin January 1, 1820, apart from a few earlier ones for New Orleans and Philadelphia, and the National Archives holds them arranged by port. Lists before about 1891 are customs lists with name, age, sex, occupation and country.
Later immigration lists ask much more: last residence, the relative or friend joined in America, money carried, height and eye color, and from 1907 the nearest relative left behind. Notes in the margins record detentions, hearings and later checks for naturalization.
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Daily Ancestor. "Passenger list." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/passenger-list. Last checked 2026-10-03.