How to Make a Family Tree

Making a family tree often begins as a weekend curiosity and turns into a lasting hobby. Each name you add raises new questions: where did they live, what did they do, why did they move? The process is part detective work and part storytelling, and you can start with nothing more than a notebook and a conversation with an older relative.

Start with yourself and work backwards

Family historians usually begin with the person they know best: themselves. Write down your full name, date and place of birth, then do the same for your parents, grandparents and as far back as memory allows. Moving back one generation at a time keeps the research anchored to facts you can check, rather than leaping to a famous surname and hoping for a link.

Gather what is already in the house

Many households hold more information than they realize. Before searching anywhere else, look through:

• Birth, marriage and death certificates
• Old letters, postcards and greeting cards
• Photographs, especially those with names or dates on the back
• Family bibles, address books, school reports and service papers
• Newspaper cuttings, funeral cards and wedding invitations

Handle fragile papers gently, photograph or scan them, and note where each original is kept.

Talk to relatives while you can

Older family members are the richest source you have, and their memories are not stored anywhere else. Ask whether you may record the conversation, and bring open questions:

1. Where did you grow up, and what was the house like?
2. What do you remember about your own grandparents?
3. Did anyone in the family move abroad or change their name?
4. Who else might know more?
5. Can you put names to the people in these photographs?

Expect some stories to be hazy or contradictory. Write them down anyway and label them as family memory rather than confirmed fact. These conversations are often as rewarding as the chart itself, and they can lead to visiting places that matter to the family, from old homes to resting places like those described in our piece on honoring the legacies of loved ones.

Choose how to record your tree

Whatever you choose, keep names and dates in a consistent format. Recording women under their birth surnames and spelling out the month in dates prevents a lot of confusion later.

Search public records

Once you reach the edge of family knowledge, records take over. What survives depends on the country, but common sources include:

• Census returns, listing households, ages, birthplaces and occupations at one moment in time
• Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths
• Church and parish registers of baptisms, weddings and burials, often older than civil records
• Immigration, passenger and naturalization records
• Wills, land records and local newspapers

National archives, regional record offices, public libraries and genealogy societies are sensible places to start. Many offer free indexes online, and archivists are often generous with advice.

Cite every source

Note where each fact came from: the document, the archive and the day you found it. It feels tedious at first, but it saves hours when a conflicting record turns up and you must decide which to trust. Treat trees built by other people online as clues, not proof, until you have seen the underlying records yourself.

Think carefully about DNA tests

Consumer DNA tests can confirm relationships and put you in touch with distant cousins. They can also reveal unexpected results, such as unknown siblings or different parentage, and they involve handing genetic data to a company. Read the privacy terms, consider how relatives might be affected and decide in advance how you would handle a surprise.

Respect living people

Keep details of living relatives private unless they agree to appear in anything you share publicly. Most online platforms hide living people by default, but check the settings. Some family stories are painful; treat them with the care you would want for your own.

Turn the tree into a story

A completed chart is satisfying, but stories bring it to life. Write short profiles of ancestors, add photographs and maps, or put together a printed booklet for a family gathering. A notebook recording your search, dead ends and lucky finds included, becomes part of the history too; our guide to starting a journal can help with that. And a family tree is never truly finished, which is exactly what makes it such a good long-term hobby.