Genealogy Basics

Your family tree begins with you. If you're ready to dig into your family history but aren't sure where to begin, these tips, lessons and step-by-step tutorials will start you off on a fascinating journey into your genealogy.

  • picture of a ghost rising from a dead body in a bed
    How to Find Out if Someone Died in Your House
  • Senior woman and granddaughter sitting at table, looking through old photographs, mid section
    5 Great Ways to Share Your Family History
  • A teenage girl and her grandfather sit at a table with a recording device between them. The girl is asking questions about family history, including "How did you meet your spouse?" and "What world events had the greatest impact on your family?"
    50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History
  • Native American man in head dress
    How to Trace American Indian Ancestry
  • Woman looking at a family photo album
    Creating and Editing Digital Photos
  • Connecticut Renaissance Faire Fall
    How to Get Started With Historical Reenacting
  • vintage family photo album and documents
    Free Family Tree Charts
  • Family history
    8 Rules for Properly Recording Names in Genealogy
  • Example of a genealogy gedcom file
    How to Open a GEDCOM file in Your Genealogy Software
  • old and important family photographs
    Preserving the Past: How to Care for and Protect Old Photographs
  • There are several reasons that you may have Y-DNA matches to individuals with a different surname.
    Meaning of Different Surnames on Your Y-DNA Test Results
  • Y-DNA tests can help you trace ancestry along your direct paternal line -- son to father to paternal grandfather...
    Y-DNA Testing for Genealogy
  • child feet in adopted parents hands
    How to Find Your Birth Family
  • 120 map overlays for Google Maps from the David Rumsey Historical Maps Collection
    Mapping Your Ancestry With Google Maps
  • Woman at table looking at genealogical tree
    How to Write Your Family History
  • Man working on computer
    How to Create a Genealogy GEDCOM File
  • Smiling woman at table with old photographs and genealogical tree
    How to Use a Genealogical Data Communication (GEDCOM) File
  • The term "kissing cousins" generally refers to any cousin other than a first cousin, or a relative known well enough to kiss hello.
    How Are Cousins Related?
  • Signature with a fountain pen.
    Reading Old Handwriting
  • Writing on the back of photos
    How to Label Your Digital Photographs
  • Common German genealogy words with their English equivalents
    German Genealogical Word List
  • Woman at table looking at genealogical tree
    How to Cite Genealogy Sources
  • Learn how plan your genealogy research like the pros!
    Creating a Genealogy Research Plan Like a Detective
  • Champagne, Village of Sermiers
    Finding the Birthplace of Your Immigrant Ancestor
  • six people in costumes at German festival
    German Genealogy Online Databases and Records
  • Extended family posing for picture
    19 Places to Research Your Family Tree for Free
  • couple in front of lightwall with heartheart
    Romance Through the Ages
  • Three Generations of Women by Family Photos
    mtDNA Testing for Genealogy
  • A statue at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn
    Photo Gallery of Cemetery Symbols and Icons
  • African American woman using laptop
    Five Steps to Verifying Online Genealogy Sources
  • Flood damaged Bible and photographs. Photo: Getty Images/David Ryder/Stringer
    Tips for Salvaging Flood Damaged Photos, Papers, and Books
  • Eiffel Tower
    How to Research Your French Ancestry
  • Eiffel Tower - France
    French Civil Registration
  • Vintage family photo album and documents.
    How to Begin Tracing Your Family Tree
  • Learn how to research your family history
    5 First Steps to Finding Your Roots
  • Coat of arms in the stone wall of a castle
    Misconceptions About Family Coats of Arms
  • Family tree and Diagram laying on a table
    Filling out Genealogical Forms
  • Research German Ancestors
    Researching German Ancestors
  • Names of many old diseases and medical conditions from centuries ago are no longer in use today.
    They Died of What? Historic Causes of Death
  • Family Tree Magazine
    Top Genealogy Magazines for Family History Enthusiasts
  • There are a number of techniques available to help you safely remove photos from old sticky albums like this one.
    Safely Removing Photos From "Sticky" Photo Albums
  • Forest Creek Diggings
    Australian Gold Rush Immigrants
  • Over 5 million names can be found in this free, searchable database of indexes to Jewish vital records of Poland.
    12 Free Jewish Genealogy Databases Online
  • Navajo girl in traditional clothing, Grand Canyon
    The Cherokee Princess Myth
  • Woman at table looking at genealogical tree
    How to Organize Your Genealogy Files
  • Young girl and her mom reading together on a couch with dog nearby
    How to Handle Adoption in the Family Tree
  • Immigrants sit on benches at the Castle Garden immigration station in New York City.
    Castle Garden: America's First Official Immigration Center
  • Learn how to identify and avoid the most common family history scams, including the phony inheritance scam.
    5 Family History Scams to Avoid
  • Three Generations of Women Looking at Photo Album
    5 Steps for Identifying People in Old Family Photographs
  • Bernal village with Bernal Peak, Querétaro state, Mexico
    Mexico Genealogy 101
  • A tombstone rubbing, when done right, can be a great way to capture a beautiful gravestone inscription.
    How to Do a Tombstone Rubbing
  • Was your ancestor at the battle of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts that set off the American Revolution?
    Researching Your Revolutionary War Ancestor
  • woman smashing through brick wall
    Brick Wall Strategies for Dead-End Family Trees
  • Senior woman going over bills with a laptop
    How to Prove Your Family Tree Connections
  • Ellis Island, New York City
    Ellis Island Immigration Center
  • St. John's Church in Kilkenny, Ireland, is one of over 1,000 Irish churches with parish registers online.
    Irish Catholic Parish Registers Online
  • Historical land documents from the Burton Historical Collection of the Detroit Public Library, Michigan
    Analyzing a Historical Document
  • Genealogy, or the process of learning about one's ancestors, is one of the most popular hobbies in the world.
    Visiting a Family History Center
  • Research local history books.
    Resources for Researching Local History
  • Female working at laptop
    The Family History Library Catalog
  • Sheep grazing on hillside, Blasket islands, County Kerry, Ireland
    Best Genealogy Websites for Researching Irish Ancestors
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