

Have you ever looked at an old family photo and wondered about the lives of the smiling faces staring back? The stories of your ancestors are out there, waiting to be discovered. But where do you even begin?
Family history can be hazy, and wrangling official records can be overwhelming. Memories fade, and documents get lost, making distant relatives feel even further away. We’re here to help by providing you with strategies to trace your lineage, discover hidden tales, and connect with your past.
Key takeaways
- Learn about the people who you might confuse with your research subjects.
- Your best sources are the people you can directly ask to fill in parts of your family tree.
- Make sure your citations help you or others find the same piece of evidence again.
- Use an informant’s knowledge to guide you to primary documents that can confirm or disprove claims.
1. Know your doppelgängers
Note: For our purposes, a doppelgänger is someone who closely resembles the person you’re researching. They usually have the same or similar names, are around the same age, and may have other attributes in common. These similarities can make it difficult to determine whether a new piece of evidence refers to your research subject or their doppelgänger.
While tracing your lineage, get to know each person who you might confuse with your research subjects. Find as many details as you can from vital records, including the names of their closest relatives, birthdates, addresses, and occupations. Then, use this information to tell each of your subject’s doppelgängers apart from the person you’re actually interested in.
Chronological data can help you distinguish between people who closely resemble each other in crucial documents. Use city directories and check the information for every available year for your subject and their doppelgängers that might’ve lived in the area — including a few before and after. You should gather as much data as possible to see how many people with the same name lived in the town and when.
Why should you know your doppelgängers?
Doppelgängers are a common challenge in genealogical research. When I started researching my own family, I used an unsourced report one of my relatives wrote for initial clues. After confirming most of his claims, I noticed that he had been led astray by a doppelgänger in one case.
He assumed that my great-grandfather’s name was uncommon. So, he found someone with the same name and a similar age in the records, thinking it was the right person.
I could’ve wasted a lot of time trying to make his family fit mine, but I knew not to trust claims without evidence. It didn’t take me long to check that this doppelgänger was married to someone whose name I didn’t recognize. His biography also didn’t match what I knew from ancestral lore.
Once I began searching for files in my great-grandfather’s hometown, I realized he had a widespread name — which he shared with one of the town’s patron saints.
» Find out how to organize research inherited from a relative
2. Know your extended family
When we’re building our family trees, we often focus on going back in time. But many of the answers to your research questions could be hiding in your generation: your first, second cousins, and so on.
You should also investigate these members to complete all your branches. Some of them might’ve taken DNA tests — or will in the future — and can give you the clues you need to break through brick walls, adoption mysteries, and non-paternity events (NPEs).
Start by investigating your first cousins. To complete their biography, you should arrange interviews, but make a list of questions first. Remember to ask for the names and birthdates of their spouse, their spouse’s parents, their brothers- and sisters-in-law, and all their children.
On the other hand, if you want to look for them in various records and need help knowing where to start, look for their parents’ and grandparents’ obituaries. These documents often list surviving descendants.
MyHeritage can also help you connect with your extended family through its extensive database of historical files and matching services. Its DNA tests can lead you to potential ancestors and provide valuable clues for your research.
3. Write proper citations for your sources
A proper citation should refer you or others back to the correct piece of evidence. If you’re researching online, you should provide a stable URL. If you can’t supply it, note the steps you took to find the document and simplify them so they’re easy for anyone to reproduce.
When formatting documents, you might come across different standards. While you don’t have to fully adopt any one of them, familiarize yourself with the popular ones: Evidence Style (based on Chicago) and Register (used by many genealogy publications).
Since you’re just starting, you can just follow the general guidelines. These styles are challenging to learn and even more so to master. In fact, there are entire books written on how to do it, so don’t worry about being perfect. You can always reformat what you wrote later if you need it for publication.
» Uncover why and how to add source citations
4. Evaluate claims critically
Genealogy websites are full of family trees with insufficient sources. Sometimes, there may be none at all. In these situations, you can try to use other people’s research while evaluating presented evidence.
Some genealogists share research results as “cousin bait” to find their extended families. If you’re looking at a family tree someone else made, critically examine the evidence it has.
You should also review any documents the researcher attached or linked to and take notes of the details inside. To find the best possible data, ask yourself:
- What kind of form is this?
- When was it made, and by what institution?
- How can I get back to this record?
- What does it say?
- What else can I infer?
But what do you do if the evidence is weak? Let’s say you’re researching an ancestor and find a birthplace (Springfield, Illinois) and year (1885). You can use it to focus your search for their birth record around that area and year.
If you find a possible match, continue. Look for other documents associated with them, like marriage certificates. These documents might mention their parents’ names or other details that could solidify the connection or provide new leads.
Note: Critical analysis of the record’s origin and claims is a skill that will help you a lot in your research. To practice it, expose yourself to various documents — not just those related to your subject. You want to be able to identify atypical facts that appear in them, so keep track of the data sets you find most useful.
» Discover how to evaluate your genealogical research
5. Recognize that some data is more fluid
Much of what we know about a person applies to specific periods in their lives. You might assume changes that didn’t actually occur, and that’s why broader context is crucial.
For example, if you’re looking at censuses to try and find your ancestors, you might see them living at 202 Water Street. Intrigued by your discovery, you go and explore the census from 1920, only to discover he’s now residing at 242 Columbus Avenue.
The more straightforward answer to this discrepancy would be that he moved house, but what if the name and numbering changed in the last ten years? You can try using maps to verify addresses by date and confirm if your assumption is valid.
In other instances, you might not look for an exact record match but rather a close enough link. Some of your ancestors might’ve shortened, misspelled, Anglicized, or changed their names.
The same file could raise an issue and provide the answer. Suppose you’re looking at an ancestor’s draft card. If someone else filled it out and then gave them the document to sign, the name might be spelled two different ways. In that case, you would accept the signature as the accurate source.
Not sure which info you can trust?
Some information is fluid, while others aren’t. For example, house numbering systems and street names may change, but children’s birth orders and your mother’s maiden name won’t. You should focus on the former first when doing your research.
6. Create a legacy plan for your research
Who will have access to your work when you die? It’s not something people like to think about, but it’s essential. Consider the future usefulness of your research in all your choices, such as:
- Understanding the breadcrumbs you leave for yourself
- Sharing your family tree with relatives
- Preparing your work for another genealogist to take over
Back up your computer files and consider saving them in the cloud. MyHeritage offers online backup services to all members who have a family tree on the site. Every month, it creates a copy of your family tree and sends you an email with a link to download the duplicate to your computer.
You should print out your work at intervals to provide an up-to-date hard copy of your family tree, too. Also, use software that is still supported by its manufacturer and trade tips with other genealogists on best practices for saving and showing your work.
Let the people closest to you know how to unlock your work and what they need to grant access to others. It probably won’t be the same person, so keep that in mind when writing final directives for your genealogy research. Provide simple instructions and passwords to the person executing your will, and write separately to the genealogists who will continue your research.
» Learn how to collaborate with other generations on your research
Beyond the name: A journey to find your heritage
Remember, tracing your ancestry won’t always be linear. Dead ends and conflicting information are part of the process. But persistence and critical thinking can help you separate fact from fiction.
MyHeritage can give you access to a vast database of historical records. You can search for papers related to your ancestors, potentially uncovering birth certificates, census data, or even immigration documents.
The details you gather can help you understand more about your ancestors’ lives and experiences. You might discover unexpected connections, shed light on family stories, or simply gain a deeper appreciation for your lineage.