Growing yourFAMILYTREE
Just like a living tree, your Ancestry® family tree needs nourishment to grow. As you add people and sources to the tree, we’ll send you hints to help you find even more information. Each branch you discover is another avenue of your family’s history to explore.
There are three important ways to build your Ancestry family tree.
Add people to your tree.
The first step to discovering your family’s story is establishing a solid foundation. This means adding as much information as you already know about people in your family—names and the dates people were born, got married, and died.
Everything you add—even your best guess—will help us to discover more records for you to continue growing your tree. From there, you can connect with other people in the Ancestry community, link to AncestryDNA® results, and more.
Support your research with sources.
Adding sources to the people on your tree shores up the foundation you’ve built. In addition to validating the information you’ve added, it provides a closer look at the world in which your ancestors lived.
When we talk about sources on Ancestry, we’re referring to records that show important facts about your ancestors. You can find sources through Ancestry hints or by searching records and linking them directly to individuals on your tree. Just remember that the hints we send you only come from a small set of records in our collection. When you subscribe to Ancestry, you can search the collection yourself and find even more information.
Share your discoveries with others.
Your family can learn and enjoy the stories you’ve gathered, and just as importantly, they can help you continue to grow your tree. Once you’ve built your foundation and started to develop your tree, share it with your family.
Together, you can learn even more about your story and bring your family closer.