How to make a family tree, step by step
A family tree starts with you: then your parents, your grandparents and your great-grandparents, and finally everyone's brothers, sisters and cousins. The hard part isn't drawing it. It's getting the names down before they're lost, and that's why it works best when the whole family builds it together.
In short
- Where to start
- With yourself, then work backward
- What to include
- Full names, dates, places and a photo if you have one
- Most important
- Talk to the oldest relatives first
What goes in a family tree
For each person, the basics fit on an index card. And what almost nobody writes down is what everyone misses later: a nickname, a recipe, where Great-Grandpa came from.
- Full name
- Including maiden names: that's how you know which family each person came from.
- Dates
- When they were born, when they married and, if they've passed, when. If you don't know the day, the year is enough; if you don't know the year, "around 1940" works too.
- Places
- The town where they were born and where they moved later. Together, they tell the story of how your family got here.
- A photo
- Even an old or blurry one: people remember a face longer than a name.
- A story
- What they did, what they were like, something they always said. It's the first thing to disappear and the thing people treasure most.
How to make a family tree, step by step
Build it from what you know to what you don’t:
- Start with yourselfYour name, your spouse or partner, and your kids. This is the branch you know best.
- Add your parentsTheir full names, when and where they were born, and their brothers and sisters: your aunts and uncles.
- Your four grandparentsIncluding your grandmothers' maiden names. Each one opens a whole new branch of the family.
- Your great-grandparentsThis is usually where what you know runs out. Ask the oldest relatives now: your grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles, the family friend who knew everyone.
- Branch out: aunts, uncles and cousinsEveryone's brothers and sisters and their kids. This is where second cousins show up, and where the family spreads across the country.
- Gather what everyone hasBirth and marriage certificates, old photos, the family Bible where someone wrote down every birth. Usually an aunt has it.
- Put it where everyone can see itA tree only one person can see stays half done. When the whole family can see it, everyone fills in their own branch.
Maiden names, nicknames and two last names
Record women under their maiden name, even if everyone knew them by their married one: Great-Grandma goes in as Margaret O'Brien, not Margaret Sullivan, so the O'Brien branch doesn't get lost.
Write the name people actually used, too: Catherine "Kate" Johnson. Thirty years from now, "Kate" is who everyone will remember.
And if part of your family is Hispanic, each person has two last names, their father's and their mother's. Keep both: they're the map to two families.
On paper, in a spreadsheet or online
On paper it looks great framed in the living room, but it lives in one house, it can't grow, and the stories don't fit. A spreadsheet or a template is fine to get started, but only the person who has the file can see it.
Online, the whole family can see it and add to it: your cousin in Dallas adds her kids, your aunt in Columbus uploads the wedding photo, and nobody has to wait for the next reunion. What matters is that it's just for your family, with your family's photos and names.
A tip
The most common mistakes
The ones that come up most, and how to avoid them:
- Waiting until you have everything
- You'll never have everything. Start with what you know; the rest comes in once the family can see it.
- Putting off the oldest relatives
- They're the only ones who know your great-grandparents' names. Call them this week.
- Writing only names
- Without dates and places, two generations from now nobody knows who was who.
- Mixing up relationships
- A first cousin once removed isn't a second cousin, and a great-uncle isn't a grand-uncle twice over. If you're not sure, the relationship calculator tells you.
A family moment
The night Aunt Anne remembered
Ethan started the tree one night in Chicago with what he knew: himself, Sofia, their daughter Olivia and his parents. He didn't even know his great-grandparents' names.
He texted his link to his aunt Anne in Columbus. That same evening she added her grandparents, Patrick Sullivan and Margaret O’Brien, and a memory under his name: "He came from Cork with one suitcase and a fiddle, and he played it every Christmas Eve until he was eighty." Nobody had ever asked her.
How to do it with ReuniTree
ReuniTree is a private online family tree that your whole family builds together:
- You start itIt asks one thing at a time, like "What’s your mom’s name?", with big letters and no jargon.
- Text or email each relative their own linkThey tap it and they're in: no password, nothing to download.
- Everyone adds what they knowTheir kids, their photos, their memories. Add as many generations as you want.
- It tells you how everyone's relatedTap two people and it answers: "Jasmine is your second cousin."
- It's your family's, and it gets passed downOne payment of $49, and your family joins free. Download it anytime: the family book to print and the file genealogy programs open.
People also ask
How many generations should a family tree have?
As many as you can. Most people start with four: you, your parents, your grandparents and your great-grandparents. Then it grows sideways (aunts, uncles and cousins) and down (kids and grandkids). ReuniTree has no limit.
What's the first thing you put on a family tree?
You. Start with the person making it and work backward: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents. That way every new name connects to one that’s already there.
How do I make a family tree if I don't know my great-grandparents' names?
Ask the oldest people in your family, look through old certificates and photos, and add what you know: "I don’t know" is fine, and someone else can fill it in later.
How do you write maiden names on a family tree?
Under the woman's birth surname: Margaret O'Brien, not Margaret Sullivan. Many trees add "born O'Brien" next to her married name so both are there.
Can I make a family tree for free?
Yes, on paper or with a template, but only the person who has it can see it. With ReuniTree one person pays once ($49) and the whole family joins free to fill it in.
How long does it take to make a family tree?
The first branch takes an evening. The rest depends on your family: when everyone adds their part, it moves much faster than one person doing it alone.