Names, Dates & Places

What information I will need to collect for myself and my family? You will need complete names, birth, marriage & death dates and places of each. You already know these dates and places for yourself. Do you know them for your siblings and parents?

Begin by writing the full name of each person in the order that the name is spoken. For women use their maiden name or the surname they used before they married. I also like to capitalize surnames to aviod any confusion.

A name is written as follows: Joseph Thomas WINTERS. First name first and last name last. Surname written in all caps.

Record dates in this format: 11 Oct 1986. The date goes first, then the three letter month followed by the complete year.

The place is written by writing the smallest place or town first, followed by the county and then the state and country. Never use abbreviations in the location. An example is: San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA

Now you know the name, date and place format used in genealogy.

Where Do I begin?

Family History can be fun and exciting. At the same time it can seem overwhelming. The most common question a beginner has is: "Where do I begin?" The answer is simple, begin with yourself. Record what you know and build on that foundation.