Build Your Family History
A well-structured family tree is the backbone of successful genealogy research. It organizes what you know, highlights what you need to find, and connects your DNA results to real ancestors.
Several platforms allow you to build and maintain digital family trees. Major genealogy websites offer integrated trees that link directly to record collections and DNA matches. Standalone genealogy software installed on your computer gives you more control over your data. Some researchers maintain trees in both a cloud platform and a local software backup. When evaluating platforms, consider the size of their record collection, the quality of their DNA match integration, privacy controls for living individuals, and whether you can export your data in standard formats such as GEDCOM for portability.
Begin your tree with yourself and build outward. Add your full name, birth date, and birthplace. Then add your parents, their parents, and siblings at each generation. For each person, try to record at least name, birth date and place, marriage information, and death date and place if applicable. Do not leave fields blank when you have the information — complete records are far easier to work with than partial ones. At this stage, it is acceptable to enter information you know from family memory even without documentary proof, as long as you note that the information is unverified. You will find documentation to confirm or correct each fact as you research.
Enter your full legal name, date of birth, birthplace, and known family members. This anchor point ensures your tree is properly oriented and prevents common errors when adding relatives.
Work backward generation by generation — parents, grandparents, great-grandparents. Prioritize direct ancestors before expanding to collateral lines such as aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Scan and attach supporting documents — birth certificates, census records, marriage licenses — to each person in your tree. Sourced trees are far more reliable and useful for future research.
Once you have documented your direct line back several generations, begin adding siblings and their descendants. Collateral lines often provide additional DNA matches and can help break through brick walls.
Every fact in your family tree should be supported by at least one cited source. A proper genealogical citation identifies where you found the information, when you accessed it, and what the original record states. Common citation components include the repository name, collection name, record type, subject's name, date, and any file or volume numbers. Even when citing a family member's oral account, you should document who told you, when, and what they said. Unsourced trees are difficult to verify, easy to corrupt with errors, and less useful for DNA match analysis. Developing good citation habits from the start will save hours of backtracking later in your research.
Most genealogy platforms automatically suppress personal details for living individuals in public trees. You should review the privacy settings on your tree carefully and understand what information, if any, is visible to other users. For private trees, consider who has access and whether you are comfortable sharing particular family information. If you share your tree with DNA matches to help identify common ancestors, ensure that sensitive information about living relatives is protected. The general principle is: full detail for deceased individuals who have been gone long enough that privacy concerns are minimal, and restricted or hidden detail for anyone who may still be alive.
DNA matches who have built family trees provide powerful clues for extending your own tree. When you share a DNA match with someone, look at the surnames in their tree and compare them to surnames you already have in your research. Overlapping surnames in the right geographic region and time period suggest you may descend from common ancestors. You can then research those potential common ancestors using documentary records to confirm the connection. This cycle — documenting matches, comparing trees, and confirming ancestors in records — is the core workflow of modern genealogy research.