How to find out who your ancestors were and where they came from

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

At the present time, many people have begun to be interested in questions relating to the origin of their family, surname, roots. Knowledge about this, as a rule, is limited only to information about the life of great-grandparents, but how to find out who your ancestors were in antiquity? Be that as it may, there are ways to find your pedigree, even if there is no documentation and photographs of past years.

How do you know who your ancestors were?

For starters, it's worth talking to all your relatives about family history. It is important to collect even grains of information about where previous generations used to live, whether they moved, what kind of activity they were engaged in. As a rule, grandparents and other elderly relatives are happy to talk about their past life, remember loved ones who have long since died. So you can not only find out who your ancestors were, but also imagine what they were.

Also searchyour last name using a specialized dictionary. Perhaps this will not provide specific data on the family, but at least it will help to find out the geographical location of the appearance of the hereditary generic name, learn about its origin and social affiliation. This knowledge will direct you to the right path of search.

Visit libraries and archives

It will not be superfluous to find out whether the ancestors were participants in the Great Patriotic War or the First World War. To do this, you need to visit libraries, websites, places that may contain information about the dead and missing.

Having learned the area where the ancestors lived, you can try to look into the archive of this region. The fact is that it is not so easy to get into the institution itself, but it is quite possible to order the necessary certificate or extract from the documents. Some archives provide paid services to search for relatives, give advice and advice.

Also now popular genealogical centers engaged in research on the pedigree to order. The cost of the work depends on the level of complexity of the search details.

Compiling a family tree

How do you know who your ancestors were? Make a genealogical tree of the family! It is generally accepted that its creation requires special skills and education, which only professionals involved in the history and study of the family for money have. This may be a very difficult process, but it is within the power of anyone who is interested and determined to reveal the unknown facts from the life of their ancestors.

Forin order to restore the historical data of the family, one should initially ask grandparents about such points as the names and dates of the period of life, homeland and place of residence, religious affiliation and nationality of bygone generations. In the future, this will help restore the missing links.

Decoration of the tree

The result is best placed in a notebook or notebook. For a more complete picture, it is required, if possible, to collect old photos, personal letters, notes, any official documents, since all this can come in handy.

The family tree is drawn up schematically. This is quite enough to find out who your ancestors were. The traditional form is depicted from the bottom up. Roots have a common ancestor. But for convenience, you can fill the tree in reverse.

The completed diagram clearly shows what data is missing from the big picture. Basically, the information received from relatives makes it possible to compile a pedigree up to 3-4 generations, then the information is lost. If there is an interest in learning about unknown ancestors, then it will be necessary to study archival materials.

Metric books of the church and documents of the registry offices

There is a way to find out where your ancestors come from and find out what nationality they were. In our country, information about citizens before the revolution of 1917 was entered into the parish registers of the church, and after that - into the documents of the registry office. You can try to find similar materials. An interesting source of genealogy is Revizskiyefairy tales. It allows you to look deep into the dynasty, if the relative belonged to the taxable class.

Specialists of the archive will be able to pick up the necessary documents and help with them. The data obtained can be entered into the scheme of the family tree, and the records can be saved for further transmission to their descendants.

How to find out who your ancestors are by last name

The family name has its own history, which carries information about the type of activity or place of residence of the ancestor. The roots of each surname originate from ancient times. In modern times, scientists are actively exploring the history of generic names, describing the facts of their occurrence. Sometimes it is worth going to specialized sites to find information about the origin of your family. You can find a lot of interesting things there.

The origins of the formation of a surname often come from a person's professional activities. By examining certain publications, you can conduct an analog analysis. It was quite common to give a man a generic name related to his occupation.

Most of the princes and boyars had surnames similar to the names of the lands they owned.

It often happened that the surname of a foreigner was transformed into Russian by changing the ending.

Priests mainly received it from the name of the temple where they served. The icon and the Bible could also be a structural component.

A large number of surnames come from seminarians. They arose from geographical places where clerics left for trainingto neighboring provinces.

Every person has the right to be proud of his surname, because it contains the origins of his family. To know the history of the family means to honor the memory of the ancestors.