Our objective was to study the predictive value of the family history in the initial diagnosis of hereditary hemochromatosis. Sixty five hemochromatosis proband patients and 66 control patients with chronic liver disease were assessed for a family history of hemochromatosis, cirrhosis, diabetes, and arthritis. There were no significant differences in the frequency of cirrhosis, diabetes, and arthritis between hemochromatosis patients and control patients. A family history of hemochromatosis was present in 3.6% of hemochromatosis patients and none of the control patients. Multivariate discriminative analysis demonstrated that the combination of cirrhosis, diabetes, and arthritis could only predict the diagnosis of hemochromatosis in 48% of cases. We conclude that a family history of cirrhosis, arthritis, and diabetes is not more common in hemochromatosis patients compared to control patients with chronic liver disease.