Often when people emigrated from another country, they would join family that had already come to the new country.
Many of these ethnic groups lived in clusters. We’ve all heard of Chinatown. This is a popular tourists attraction now, but is also where the Chinese settled and made a new life.
There are also areas where the Italians, Irish, Germans, Scot-Irish, Hispanics, Dutch, Greek and so forth all settled. Many larger cities such as New York City, Chicago and San Francisco have areas that were settled by a specific ethnic group. Even today you can still feel the vibe of that culture in these towns when you visit.
Even in the earlier colony days, certain heritage groups would settle together in a certain area, town or suburb.
These groups often inspired the names and traditions of that area.
So if you’re struggling to find where a relative settled, check their ethnic cluster groups.