So you want to start genealogy research. But what is it. The word "genealogy" means the study of genes or family lines. Here are a couple of thoughts or ideas you may want to consider before starting into the wonderful world of genealogy.

Why do you want to research your family lines? The most obvious answer would be to know who your ancestors were. But are you only interested in knowing the facts, such as their names, dates of birth and death, location, and who their children were? Or are you also interested in knowing how your ancestors lived, where they lived, what did they do for a living, how did they live during their era? When you have established what exactly you hope to learn about your ancestors and delve into the world of genealogy, your answers to the above questions will create and hopefully maintain your focus.

Now a couple of key words you should know. Surname means "last name". Given name or Christian name means "first, middle, and possibly their baptismal name. Ancestor means a family member that lived before you. Descendant means a family member that comes from you or descends from you. Family tree is well, people that make up your family. Sometimes you'll hear somebody joke and say "but my tree doesn't fork". Now what is THAT suppose to mean you may wonder. It as I have said - a joke - meaning there are no other surnames that come into the family. Everybody's family tree forks! But maybe the researcher has run into a "brick wall". Ahh, another term. Brick wall means you are not having any luck in finding out information on an ancestor. I think this should get you started on terminology.

Okay now your antsy to start. First thing, grab a notepad. Write down the names, birthdates, wedding dates of your parents, siblings, and grandparents (and don't forget yourself). Also be sure for the women you write down their maiden name. After you have written down all the information, you will see you already have three generations started.

It's now time to go visit Ancestry.com . Ancestry has some sample forms for free that you can print out. One of the forms is called a Family Sheet. Print several of these forms out and start filling the information in that you just wrote down on your notepad from above. After you have finished filling in as much information as you have, why not start with Ancestry.com in researching. All you have to do is put in the surname and location, if you wish, in the search box on Ancestry, and look out - you might come up with a whole bunch of information and find others that are researching your same family line!

DaraSue's Quick Tip:
The surname you are researching may not be spelled exactly the way your family spells it now. For example, one of my main surnames is PETZKE. This surname has also been spelled PESHKE, PETSHKE, PAESHKE and PETSKE. So keep an open-mind to the spelling of the surname you are researching.