How to Make a Family Tree: A Step-by-Step Guide with an Example

To make a family tree, start with yourself, add your parents, then your grandparents, and work backward one generation at a time. Write down what you already know, ask relatives to fill the gaps, and confirm each name and date with a record such as a birth certificate or a census page. Then choose a chart shape and draw it, noting where every fact came from.

Step 1: Start with yourself and work backward

Genealogists work from the known to the unknown. You know your own birth date and place, so begin there. Then add your parents, their marriage, and your grandparents. Each step back rests on the one before it, which keeps you from attaching yourself to the wrong family with a similar surname.

For each person, collect the same basic facts:

• Full name, including a woman's maiden name
• Date and place of birth
• Date and place of marriage, and the spouse's name
• Date and place of death and burial
• Children, in order of birth

Use a simple worksheet or notebook page for each couple, sometimes called a family group sheet. It keeps parents and children together and shows at a glance what is missing.

Step 2: Gather what your relatives know

The oldest members of your family are your best first source, and the most urgent one. Ask them for names, places and stories, and ask to see what they keep: birth and marriage certificates, funeral cards, old letters, family Bibles, school reports, military papers and labeled photographs.

• Ask specific questions. "Where was Grandma born?" works better than "Tell me about the family."
• Write down who told you what. Two cousins may remember the same story differently.
• Photograph documents rather than borrowing them, and record whose they are.
• Record longer conversations. Our list of oral history interview questions helps you plan a family interview.

Treat family stories as leads, not facts. A tradition that an ancestor "came over on a famous ship" may be true, half true or borrowed from someone else's family. The records will tell you which.

Step 3: Find the records

Birth, marriage and death records

Often called vital records, these are the backbone of any tree. A birth record usually names the parents; a marriage record may give ages and birthplaces; a death record can name parents and a burial place. Depending on the place and period, you may find them with a government records office or, for older events, only in church registers of baptisms, weddings and burials.

Census records

The National Archives states that the first federal population census was taken in 1790 and that a census has been taken every ten years since. Census pages place a family in a household at a given moment, with ages and often birthplaces, so you can follow them from decade to decade.

A few points help you use them well:

• The 72-year rule. Personal census records are released to the public 72 years after a census is taken. The 1950 census was released on April 1, 2022, and it is the most recent one available. By the same rule, the 1960 census is not due until 2032.
• Early censuses name only the head of household. From 1790 to 1840, other members of the household are counted by age group rather than named.
• The 1890 gap. Most of the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire in 1921, and only partial records survive for some states.
• Work from newest to oldest. The National Archives suggests beginning with the most recent census and moving back.

Other useful records

Once the basics are in place, look at gravestones and cemetery records, newspaper obituaries, immigration and naturalization papers, military service files, wills and land records. Each one can confirm a date, add a relative or point to the next place to search.

Step 4: Choose a chart type

A family tree can take several shapes. Pick the one that answers the question you care about.

Chart type	What it shows	Best for
Pedigree chart (ancestor chart)	One person and their direct ancestors: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents	Tracing your own lines back; it gets wider as it goes back
Descendant chart	One person or couple and all their descendants	Reunions and showing how living cousins connect; narrowest at the top
Fan chart	Ancestors in a half circle, with the subject in the center and each ring doubling outward	Wall displays and seeing gaps at a glance

If you number ancestors, a common system gives you number 1, your father number 2 and your mother number 3. Each father's number is double his child's, and each mother's is double plus one. This numbering system is known as an ahnentafel.

Step 5: Draw it by hand

A hand-drawn tree is the best way to understand how your family fits together. Use a large sheet of paper and a pencil.

1. Decide on the chart type and the number of generations. Four generations fit comfortably on one sheet.
2. For a descendant chart, put the oldest couple at the top. Draw a horizontal line between spouses and a vertical line down to their children.
3. List children from left to right in birth order, oldest first.
4. Write each person's name, with birth, marriage and death details underneath.
5. Leave space. You will find people you did not expect.

Here is a simple family tree example in text form, showing a fictional family as a descendant chart:

Thomas Reed (b. 1921, d. 1990)  m. 1946  Ellen Moss (b. 1924, d. 2011)
 |
 +-- Margaret Reed (b. 1948)  m. 1970  David Hale (b. 1945, d. 2015)
 |    |
 |    +-- Anna Hale (b. 1972)
 |    +-- Peter Hale (b. 1975)
 |
 +-- James Reed (b. 1951)  m. 1979  Ruth Clark (b. 1953)
      |
      +-- Laura Reed (b. 1981)

Standard notation

Genealogists use short abbreviations so a chart stays readable:

• b. born
• m. married
• d. died
• bur. buried
• abt. or c. about, for an estimated date

Write dates as day, month and year with the month spelled or abbreviated, such as 4 Mar 1921. It avoids the confusion between 4/3 and 3/4.

Step 6: Use tools and cite your sources

Paper charts are free and portable. Free genealogy programs and websites let you build a tree on screen and print several chart types from the same data. Paid subscription sites add large collections of indexed records and, in some cases, DNA matching. Many people start free, then pay for a month or two when they need records they cannot find elsewhere. Before uploading a tree, check who can see it, and keep details of living relatives private.

Whatever you use, cite your sources. For every fact, note where it came from: the document, the archive or website, and the page or certificate number. A short citation might read "1950 US census, household of Thomas Reed, enumeration sheet 7." Mark facts that rest only on family memory as unconfirmed. Your tree will be easier to check, easier to correct, and far more useful to the relatives who inherit it.

Once your tree takes shape, you will meet cousins of every kind. Our guide to what "once removed" means explains how to name them.