How to Start a Family Tree: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

01 / START WITH YOU

Where Should a Beginner Start a Family Tree?

Start with yourself and work backward one generation at a time. Write your full name, birth date and birthplace, then do the same for your parents and grandparents. The National Archives gives beginners the same advice: gather what you and your relatives already know before you search any records.

Use one sheet per couple, sometimes called a family group sheet. List the two partners, their dates and places of birth, marriage and death, and their children. Leave blanks where you don’t know something. A blank is honest. A guess written as fact causes trouble for years.

Set a first goal of reaching your great-grandparents. Counting you, that’s four generations and 8 great-grandparents (2 × 2 × 2) to find, a goal small enough to finish.

02 / INTERVIEWS

Who Should You Interview First, and What Should You Ask?

Interview your oldest living relatives first, because their memories reach furthest back and can’t be found anywhere else. The Library of Congress suggests asking permission to record the conversation on a phone. Ask open questions about people, places and events, and write down full names, maiden names, towns and rough years.

A short list of questions keeps the talk moving without making it feel like a form:

• What were your parents’ and grandparents’ full names, including maiden names and nicknames?
• Where did they live, and why did they move?
• Who were your brothers and sisters, and who did they marry?
• Where is the family buried? Which church did they attend?
• Who in the family has the old photos, the Bible or the papers?

A reunion is a good time to do this. Our family reunion activities post has more ideas for story time, and family reunion traditions covers making it a yearly habit.

03 / HOME SOURCES

Which Family Documents Should You Gather First?

Gather what is already in drawers and closets: birth, marriage and death certificates, funeral programs, obituaries, family Bibles, military discharge papers, letters and labeled photos. These give exact names and dates you can check against public records. Photograph or scan each one, and return originals to their owners.

An obituary can name a person’s parents, spouse, children and hometown on one page. Put the source in each file name: “Obituary, Mary Lee Harris, 1987, from Aunt Ruth’s scrapbook.”

04 / FREE RECORDS

Where Can You Find Free Family Records?

Start with the U.S. Census. The National Archives released the 1950 census free online in 2022 and advises beginners to start there and work backward. FamilySearch, run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is free for everyone. The Library of Congress has free research guides and an Ask a Librarian service.

A census was taken every ten years from 1790. Under a 72-year privacy rule, the National Archives says 1950 is the latest census open to the public, so the 1960 census won’t open until 2032 (1960 + 72). From 1850 on, the census lists everyone in each household by name. Before 1850, only the head of household is named.

One gap to know about: most of the 1890 census was destroyed after a fire at the Commerce Department building in 1921, according to the National Archives. If a family disappears between 1880 and 1900, that fire may be the reason.

The National Archives says a name and a state are enough to begin a census search. Look for the whole household, because a list of children with ages confirms you have the right family.

05 / UNSURE DATES

How Do You Record a Date You Aren’t Sure Of?

Write “about” or “c.” (short for circa) in front of the year, as in “c. 1908,” and note why you think so. An estimate marked as an estimate is useful. An estimate written as an exact date misleads every relative who copies it, and it can send searches to the wrong year.

Census ages are a common source of estimates. If Great-Grandma Ella is listed as 42 in the 1950 census, she was born about 1908 (1950 − 42). Since the census date falls partway through the year, she may have been born in 1907 or 1908, so write “c. 1908” and cite the census. When you later find her birth certificate, replace the estimate with the exact date and the new source.

06 / CITATIONS

How Do You Cite Sources in a Family Tree?

For every fact, write down what the source is, who created it, when, and where you found it. FamilySearch’s guidance on citations says to record the source as you enter each fact rather than later. A simple, consistent format beats a perfect one you never use.

Interviews count as sources too. When two sources disagree, record both and say which you trust and why.

07 / EVERY KIND OF FAMILY

How Should You Record Step, Half and Adopted Relatives?

Record each relationship as the family lives it and label it plainly: stepfather, half-sister, adopted son. A label explains how people are connected. It doesn’t rank them. Ask the person how they want to appear before you share the tree, and leave out anything private they haven’t chosen to share.

• Stepfamilies. Show the marriage that joined the families, then show each child with their own parents. A stepparent who raised someone belongs on the tree.
• Half-siblings. Link each half-sibling to the parent they share. That makes the connection clear without any extra explanation.
• Adoption. Show adopted children as children of the family that raised them. If an adopted relative wants their birth family recorded, follow their lead on what to include and who sees it.
• Living people. Keep living relatives’ exact birth dates, addresses and health details out of anything you share widely. Ask first.

08 / BUILD IT TOGETHER

How Do You Build a Family Tree With Relatives Online?

Put the tree in one shared place and invite each branch to fill in its own part. Without a dedicated tool, a shared document or FamilySearch’s free shared tree works. Keep one copy everyone works from, so the tree doesn’t split into versions that disagree. In a shared document, have one person check additions.

If your family already uses AmazingReunion for its reunion, the family tree is built for this kind of shared work:

• Kickstart suggests relatives from people you’ve shared reunions with and drafts a starting tree, so you aren’t typing every cousin from scratch.
• You stay in charge of accuracy. The creator adds people directly and can mark trusted members who add directly too. Everyone else suggests additions, and the creator approves them.
• Every kind of family fits. There are 25 relationship types, including step, half and in-law.
• Estimates stay estimates. Birth and death years can be approximate, shown as “c. 1908.”
• Invitations connect people. Invite relatives by email. When they accept, they join that branch’s chat room automatically, which is a good place to ask “Does anyone have Uncle James’s obituary?”

Keep your citations in your own notes alongside the tree. For a walkthrough, read how to build a family reunion family tree. If the tree turns up relatives you’ve lost touch with, see how to plan a reunion and our invitation wording templates.