How do you begin to trace your ancestry?

Question: How do you begin to trace your ancestry!?
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Right there with you at your own table, Joe!.
Find your own birth certificate!.!. you have now VERIFIED your own parents!. Yes!.!. you knew them, but what you have done, is USED A RECORD to be certain!. That is a critical process that I advise you to use from the beginning!. Yes, talking to family members is good, as long as they are available!. However, you still need to understand the importance of documentation!. Once you get back 100 yrs, most persons either don't remember, or did not know the facts in the first place!.
Birth and death certificates were required at different times in different localities!.!. example, Texas didn't require them until 1903, while the UK started them in the mid 1800s!. That leads to the next key piece!.!. knowing that you have to be specific in asking "where do I find <blank> record!?"!. The answer to that will depend on your ancestor!.!. zeroing in on the source is the challenge (and fun) of research!.
After "proving" who your parents were, you'll move to their parents!. Again!.!. use documents to back it up!. Persons still living have privacy rights, don't look for that info online!. People tend to think that more recent info is easier to find!. The reverse is actually more common!.!. you'll find more HISTORICAL records accessible than recent ones!.
Don't get sidetracked by looking for a surname!. If grandma's name was Jones!.!. you don't need to look for the Jones "family"!. You need grandma's parents (siblings), and because you already documented that she was born in a certain location!.!. you know THAT is where you will be looking to find them!.
There is a HUGE amount of genealogy online!. At the same time!.!. don't forget that records from the 1800s were there in the 1800s, and so was genealogy!. Your goal is finding the information, and it will not all be online!. Anything online is a transcription (copy) of an earlier record!. The same is true for all posted family trees!. Anyone's family tree online!.!. is NOT a record, but someone else's research!. If they never bothered using good records, they easily can have wrong data!. So!.!. don't assume any of it is correct, unless you see that sources have been used!.
Despite the cautions!.!. once you get rolling, you will be amazed what you can find!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Myheritage!.com helps you to create a family tree!.!. it gives you plenty of search options and it's completely free!
Honestly, it's the best site I have found!. All you need to know is your mother's surname [the name before she was married] and her father's/mother's first names [and last names]
and your grandmother's surname [last name]
it also helps if you know other related family members, but otherwise just look that up!.

Myheritage!.com will help you to find other relatives as well!Www@QuestionHome@Com

start by asking your parents and grandparents about their mothers and fathers and what family history they knowWww@QuestionHome@Com

It depends upon where you live!. These work for the States:
You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history!. Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department!. Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc!. Our public library has both www!.ancestry!.com and www!.heritagequest!.com free for anyone to use (no library card required)!.
Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers!. They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you)!.
A third option is one of the following websites:
http://www!.searchforancestors!.com/!.!.!.

http://www!.censusrecords!.net/!?o_xid=2739!.!.!.

http://www!.usgenweb!.com/

http://www!.census!.gov/

http://www!.rootsweb!.com/

http://www!.ukgenweb!.com/

http://www!.archives!.gov/

http://www!.familysearch!.org/

http://www!.accessgenealogy!.com/!.!.!.

http://www!.cyndislist!.com/

http://www!.geni!.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever!.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example!.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www!.associatedcontent!.com/article!.!.!.

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test!. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father!. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA!.
I used www!.familytreedna!.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program!.Www@QuestionHome@Com