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Find our 24 genealogy tips for beginners or advanced researchers, with explanations and useful links!
This is THE BASIS of genealogy! By verifying in the archives and cross-referencing information, you minimize the risk of errors and avoid developing a wrong branch.
One of the best tips for someone starting genealogy research is to exchange with your close family. This allows you to gather valuable information and discover family stories and archives.
Organization is essential in genealogy! Find the method that works best for you and stick to it in the long term. This will increase your efficiency and help you avoid missing important information.
🌳 Genealogy by generation or genealogy by family/branch… It's up to you!
📝 Timeline, research notebook, to-do list, bullet journal, digital organization tools… Resources are plentiful!
Reading old documents out loud can facilitate their understanding. Spelling and grammar depend on the date of the document and the author's level of education. By reading aloud, phonetically, you will encounter fewer difficulties.
Old newspapers are a valuable resource for delving into the daily life of your ancestors and sometimes even finding their traces.
➡️ Retronews
“Agnat”, “Exogamy”, “Puîné”… To understand genealogy, the lexicon is indispensable! Keep it always at hand to understand common vocabulary.
A few lexicons among many others:
➡️ Lexicon of Genealogy - FranceGenWeb
➡️ Genealogy Lexicon - Geneadic
➡️ Lexicon of Genealogy - Murmures d'Ancêtres
No more head-scratching! The unique and free algorithm of Geneafinder calculates missing dates in your family tree (birth, marriage, and death), guaranteed time-saver!
To try it, it's here ➡️ https://geneafinder.com (free registration)
Inhale, exhale… You've spent hours, days, months trying to overcome a genealogy obstacle? It's time to take a break! The more time you spend, the less clearly you see...
⏸️ A tip to give you, take a step back! A few days off, change the individual or topic and come back to it later! But be careful, don't forget to note your research, both successful and unsuccessful.
Meeting with peers to exchange about your genealogy is a great idea! Join groups or forums for genealogists by country, region or department depending on your research; the sharing of knowledge will be even more enjoyable!
It's obvious for some, less for others, but it's a good reflex to maximize your research! You note everything: the date of an act, the names of parents, godparents, professions, exact places and addresses… These small details can be gold mines; don't neglect them.
You also note your unsuccessful searches as well as the successful ones, thus avoiding wasting time by searching (in vain) for the fifth time in the same register.
You've loved it and shared it many times (thank you!), so keep our list (non-exhaustive) of 400 useful abbreviations and acronyms in genealogy in your favorites!
We love Gallica! A goldmine of historical, cultural, and genealogical information available for free… What more could you ask for? Search for a department, village, or even one of your ancestors; you will find documents, images, newspapers, or maps there.
Useful for some, useless for others… Up to you! There are several methods for numbering individuals in your genealogy tree; each has advantages and disadvantages. Your choice. The two main ones: the SOZA-STRADONITZ numbering mainly for ascending genealogy and the Aboville numbering mainly for descending genealogy.
Save time in your research with our nominal search tool. By entering the first and last name of an ancestor, we search for you in more than twenty genealogical and historical databases.
🤗 New databases will soon be added to expand the search.
To try it, it's here ➡️ https://geneafinder.com (free registration)
It's by sharing your obstacles and findings that you might learn more! Talk about it with your circle, family members, on a blog, or in forums; a cousin might be nearby and have useful clues…
Our departmental cheat sheets give you many genealogical, historical, and cultural resources to help you find your ancestors and delve into their daily lives. Most are online and can be found in the Resources tab of your Geneafinder account or on the blog!
“He is the son of the cousin of my father's aunt” 😅 Hmm… Not simple! A quick illustration to understand degrees of kinship and to (better) understand when you talk about a distant cousin!
For beginners and paleography enthusiasts, after reading old manuscripts out loud, compare the shapes of the letters to find clues!
A few useful resources:
➡️ Paleography, the shape of letters - Histoire Généalogie
➡️ Paleography Alphabet - GeneaLogique
Did you know? A search on Google Books with “First Name Last Name” of your ancestor can give you great results!
Im-what?! Understanding implexes in genealogy when you start is not easy! In short, an implex is an ancestor who appears several times in the same tree; this phenomenon is often defined by the term “consanguinity.” For more, explanations and concrete examples:
➡️ I like Implex - Chronicles of Yesteryear
➡️ Definition of Implex and Consanguinity - Yvon Genealogy
One of your ancestors is playing hide and seek? Not easy! A tip, use siblings or cousins to track down this ancestor!
Yes! Be curious! No doubt you already are if you started genealogy… But dig, browse, read, observe the clues left by the past!
The spelling of surnames often evolved over time and also depending on the oral transcription by the author… Noting all orthographic variations avoids missing a branch and understanding the evolution of your surname.
Yes! Maps are useful in genealogy, aren't they? To understand migrations, imagine the life of your ancestors, tell the story of a village or house… Some useful sites:
➡️ From Cassini's villages to today's communes
There you are, ready to conduct your genealogy research!
Happy research!