How to start researching your family history, a beginner's guide

To start researching your family history, begin with yourself and work backward one generation at a time. Write down what you already know, talk to your oldest relatives, gather the documents and photos already in your family, and then search records, starting with free sites like FamilySearch. Record where every fact came from, so you and anyone after you can check it.

Step 1: Write down what you already know

Start with a simple sheet or a free family tree template. For yourself, your parents and your grandparents, write:

• Full names, including maiden names and both surnames if your family uses them
• Dates and places of birth, marriage and death
• Where they lived, and roughly when

Don't worry about gaps. The gaps are your research list.

Step 2: Talk to your oldest relatives first

This is the step most people skip, and the one they most often regret. Your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles know names, places and stories that no archive has, and they can tell you where to look.

Ask about:

• Names and nicknames. Relatives were often known by a middle name or a nickname, which matters when searching records.
• Places. The town, parish or neighborhood, not just the country or state.
• Moves. When the family moved, from where, and why.
• Documents and photos. Who has the old papers, the family Bible, the photo albums?
• The stories. How their parents met, what work they did, what life was like. Records give you dates; only people can give you the story.

Record these conversations if they agree. For ideas, see our 100 questions to ask your grandparents. If relatives live far away, Dalia can talk with them by voice, in English or Spanish, and save each conversation for the family.

Step 3: Gather what's already in the family

Many families have more records at home than they realize. Look for:

• Birth, marriage and death certificates
• Baptism and first communion certificates, prayer cards from funerals
• Immigration and naturalization papers, old passports
• Military discharge papers
• Letters, postcards and diaries
• Photos, especially with names or dates written on the back
• Family Bibles, which sometimes list births and deaths

Scan or photograph everything, and write down who owns the original.

Step 4: Build your family tree

Choose one place to keep your tree. Free options include FamilySearch's shared Family Tree, and the free basic trees on Ancestry and MyHeritage. You can also keep it in genealogy software on your computer.

Most tools can export your tree as a GEDCOM file, a standard format that lets you move it between programs, so you're not locked into one site.

Step 5: Search records, one person at a time

Pick one person with a gap, like a great-grandmother whose birthplace you don't know, and look for records that would answer it. Good first sources:

• Census records. In the United States, census records are released 72 years after each census, so the 1950 census is the most recent available. They show who lived together, ages, birthplaces and often immigration years.
• Vital records. Birth, marriage and death records, kept by civil registries and, earlier, by churches.
• Church records. Baptisms, marriages and burials, often going back further than civil records.
• Newspapers. Obituaries, wedding announcements and local news.
• Cemetery records. Gravestones and burial registers, many photographed on Find a Grave and BillionGraves.

Start with free genealogy websites before paying for anything.

Step 6: Keep track of your sources

For every fact, note where it came from: the record, the website, the page, or the relative who told you. It feels slow, but it saves you from repeating searches, and it lets you weigh conflicting information. A birth year from a baptism record is more reliable than one from a census, where a neighbor might have answered for the family.

Step 7: Watch for common traps

• Spelling changes. Names were spelled however a clerk heard them. Search for variations.
• Same names. Many families reused names across generations. Check dates and places before connecting two people.
• Online trees. Other people's trees are useful clues, but they often copy each other's mistakes. Confirm facts with records.
• Missing records. Fires, floods and wars destroyed many records, like most of the 1890 US census. Look for other sources that cover the same facts.

Frequently asked questions

How do I start tracing my family history for free?

Write down what you know, interview older relatives, gather family documents, and build a tree on a free site like FamilySearch. Then search free records: census records, church and civil records on FamilySearch, cemetery records on Find a Grave, and historic newspapers on the Library of Congress's Chronicling America.

What is the best free genealogy website?

FamilySearch is the largest free genealogy website, with billions of records from around the world, including many Latin American church and civil records. It's run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is free for everyone, with a free account.

How far back can I trace my family tree?

It depends on where your family lived and which records survived. Many families can reach the early 1800s using census, civil and church records. Catholic parish records in Mexico and Spain sometimes go back to the 1500s or 1600s.

What should I ask relatives about family history?

Ask for full names, nicknames, places of birth, where the family lived and moved, what work people did, and who has old documents or photos. Then ask for stories, like how their parents met, which no record will ever hold.