Frequently asked questions
Harness the power of a worldwide, crowd-sourced pedigree to discover your family story.
A family tree works by visually mapping relationships between family members, typically with the oldest ancestor at the top and descendants branching down. It functions as a diagram to show connections, with each person represented by a box or circle linked to their parents, children, and siblings. Building a tree often involves working backward from yourself to discover your ancestors and using documents and records to add more detail to each generation.
To make a family tree, start with yourself and add parents, then grandparents, and other relatives by gathering information from family members and official records. You can then use online tools, software, or paper and pen to visually map out the relationships with boxes for people and lines to show connections.
The best materials for a family tree are primary source documents like birth, marriage, and death certificates, and personal records such as old letters, photos, and family stories, which are most reliable when created at the time of the event. Combining these with digital tools like genealogy websites or software for organization, and physically storing important paper documents is crucial.
To start a family tree, begin by gathering information on your closest relatives, then use that as a foundation to work backward, adding details like birth, marriage, and death dates, and locations. You can use online genealogy websites, which often guide you through the process, or start with a paper template. To fill in the blanks, interview older family members and collect documents like birth certificates, photographs, and family Bibles.