Three-Generation Information Sheet Before Building a Family Tree

Record known relationships first, so sources and uncertainty can enter the family tree together.

A guide to organizing information. The examples are fictional demonstrations, not historical cases; please verify conclusions involving people, dates, and lineages against original sources.

Start with Yourself and Work Outward, Step by Step

Begin by organizing information about yourself, your parents, your grandparents, and clearly identified relatives. There is no need to connect them to distant ancestors right away. For each person, save their commonly used name, the name recorded in the original genealogy, and any aliases to avoid creating duplicate individuals because of identical names or variant characters.

Relationships Need Sources, Too

A person’s relationships with their parents, spouse, and children should indicate whether they are based on the person’s own confirmation, household records, an old genealogy, or oral history. When there is a dispute, mark it as pending verification for now, so the connections in the system do not conceal insufficient evidence.

Invite Family Members to Verify Specific Items

Break the tasks into smaller items, such as “confirm the spelling of a name,” “verify whether two records refer to the same person,” and “add photo details.” Do not ask everyone to complete all the information at once. When making revisions, retain the source and date for easy reference later.

Check Once More Before Making It Public

Information about family members and publicly available historical materials should be handled separately. Confirm the scope of sharing with the person concerned or someone authorized to confirm it, and avoid placing contact details, exact addresses, and family records that are not intended for publication on pages visible in search results.

Copyable Record Sheet

人物编号与姓名：
别名或谱名：
与记录者关系：
父母 / 配偶 / 子女（待核请标注）：
关系依据：
资料提供者与日期：
可见范围：
待确认问题：

Download Blank Record Sheet