How to Start a Family Tree, Step by Step

Family Tree Simple · Updated 25 September 2026 · 8 minute read

Everything a beginner needs: where to begin, what to write down, and how to keep it accurate.

Most people give up on genealogy because they start in the wrong place. Begin with yourself, work backwards one generation at a time, and record your sources as you go.

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Start with a small, answerable family question

The easiest way to begin a family tree is to choose a question you can answer with information close at hand. You might want to record the names of your grandparents, identify the people in one photograph or show a child how their cousins are related. A small objective gives the first session a clear finish and prevents the project from becoming an endless search before you have recorded the basics.

Begin with yourself or another person whose immediate relationships you know. Add the closest relatives first, then expand one connection at a time. The point is to create a reliable structure, not to fill every branch immediately. An empty space is more useful than a confident-looking guess that later attaches an entire family to the wrong person.

Keep a separate list of open questions. If you are unsure of a birth year or a parent's full name, note the uncertainty rather than inventing a value to make the chart complete. You can return to the question when you find a document or speak with someone who has relevant knowledge.

Gather what is already in the family

Before searching widely online, look for materials already available to you: photographs, letters, family notes, certificates, funeral programmes and old address books. Ask the person who keeps them what they know about their origin. The context around an item can be as useful as the names written on it.

Create a simple inventory instead of trying to interpret everything at once. Give each item a descriptive label and record where the original is kept. If you make a digital copy, keep it connected to that label so you can find the original again. Avoid separating a photograph from the note on its reverse or from the album sequence that explains it.

The US National Archives beginner guidance recommends starting with yourself and working from family information toward records. Use that as a broad research habit, while choosing archives and record collections appropriate to the places your own family lived.

Record names as evidence, not as a single fixed spelling

A relative may appear under a birth name, married name, nickname, transliteration or spelling variant. Record the form supported by the source and retain the alternatives in your notes. Do not assume that two spellings necessarily represent two different people, or that an identical name proves two records describe the same person.

Use additional details to distinguish people: approximate age, relatives, occupation, residence and the sequence of events. A common name can appear many times in the same town. Connecting a record because the name looks familiar is one of the easiest ways to build a plausible but incorrect branch.

When the evidence conflicts, write a short explanation of the conflict. For example, one family note may use a shortened name while a certificate uses a longer form. You do not need to resolve every variation immediately, but you should preserve enough context to understand your later decision.

Add dates without pretending to know more than you do

Use the most precise date the evidence supports. If you only know a year, do not manufacture a day and month. If a relative remembers an event as happening around a particular period, record that as an estimate in the available note or date format rather than converting it silently into certainty.

Be careful with numeric dates. A notation such as 04/05 can be read differently in different places. When entering or sharing a date, use an unambiguous format where the tool permits it, such as a written month. Keep the original notation in the source note if its interpretation is uncertain.

Check the overall timeline as you work. An unexpected age at marriage or a child apparently born before a parent's plausible lifespan may indicate a transcription error or a mistaken identity. Treat the inconsistency as a prompt to review the evidence, not as permission to change the date until the chart looks tidy.

Connect one relationship at a time

After adding a person, connect the relationship you can support. Confirm that you have selected the intended parent, partner or child before saving. In a growing tree, similar names and repeated family names can make accidental connections surprisingly easy.

Represent family relationships respectfully and accurately within the options the application provides. Biological, adoptive, step and other family connections should not be collapsed into an unsupported assumption. If the available visual structure cannot express an important distinction, explain it clearly in your accompanying notes rather than leaving readers to infer it.

A tree is a model of relationships, not a verdict on who belongs in a family. Discuss sensitive details with the people involved where appropriate, particularly when living relatives or children will see the result. You can create a useful chart without publishing every private fact you know.

Keep a source note for each important claim

A source note should let you or another researcher find the evidence again. Record the document or interview, the relevant name and date, the archive or owner and a page or item reference when available. A bare website address may be insufficient if it points to a broad search page whose results later change.

Distinguish what the source says from what you infer. A record may place two people in the same household without directly stating the relationship you suspect. Write the observation first, then explain the inference and what further evidence would strengthen it.

Family Tree Simple helps organise people and relationships, but your research process should preserve evidence in a form you control. If a particular citation field is not available in your current workflow, maintain a separate research log and use consistent person labels to connect it to the tree.

Ask relatives focused, open questions

A short conversation about one person or photograph often produces better information than asking someone to recite the whole family history. Begin with what they recognise: where the picture was taken, who lived in the house or what name a relative used in everyday life.

Avoid leading questions that suggest the answer you hope to hear. “What do you remember about this person?” is more useful than “This must be your uncle, right?” Record who supplied the information and when, and distinguish a direct memory from a story passed down through someone else.

Ask before recording a conversation or sharing it. A relative may be happy to help with a private tree but uncomfortable with a public account. Respect that difference and make the intended use clear before collecting material that includes personal memories or sensitive details.

Use a first-session checklist

• Choose one starting person and one modest objective.
• Add the immediate relationships you can support.
• Record uncertain names and dates as open questions.
• Label the documents or photographs used in the session.
• Check for accidental duplicate people and incorrect links.
• Save a separate copy of important source material.
• Write down the next question so restarting is easy.

Keep the session short enough to finish with a review. A few carefully recorded relationships are a better foundation than a large imported branch you have not checked. The project becomes easier to maintain when every session leaves a clear trail of what changed and why.

Example: identifying a grandmother's parents

Imagine you know your grandmother's name and approximate birth year, but the family remembers two different names for her father. Start by recording the known relationship and the two alternatives as a research question. Gather the family documents connected to her rather than choosing the more familiar name.

A certificate or another relevant record may clarify the connection, but you still need to check that it belongs to the same person. Compare the place, date and related names. If the evidence remains ambiguous, leave the parent connection unresolved and document what you checked.

This approach may feel slower than adding a name immediately, but it prevents an uncertain link from supporting several generations of further assumptions. The tree becomes stronger because readers can distinguish established relationships from questions still being investigated.

Review before you share or expand

Read the tree as someone who did not build it. Are the relationships understandable? Can you tell which dates are estimated? Are living relatives' details appropriate for the intended audience? Correct obvious mistakes before inviting others to rely on the chart.

Then choose the next small research question. You might extend one branch, add a photograph with a reliable identification or resolve a conflicting date. Keep your source notes and exports organised as the project grows. A family tree is easier to improve when it remains a transparent record of evidence rather than a collection of unexplained names.