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ge·ne·al·o·gy (jē'nē-?l'?-jē, -?l'-, j?n'ē-)
n., pl. -gies.
1: A record or table of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors; a family tree.
2: Direct descent from an ancestor; lineage or pedigree.
3: The study or investigation of ancestry and family histories.

[Middle English genealogie, from Old French, from Late Latin geneālogia, from Greek geneālogiā : geneā, family + -logiā, -logy.]

Genealogy* is the process of tracking the history of families. It can be as simple a asking "What is my fathers name?" Then a bit of information regarding birth date and birth place are noted.

From that one would then ask, "What was his father's (your grandfather's) name. What is his birthdate and birthplace?" If you include yourself you have established 3 generations.

This is usually as far as most people get because going further requires asking some questions of your father and your grandfather. One would ask the grandfather if he knows the name of his grandfather - your great grandfather. That is the beginning of running down your name line.

When some formality comes to the process, one would record the names of a family group on a standard form called a "Family Group Sheet." (FGS) This takes care of perhaps the names of your parents and your siblings. Repeat that for each family group that stretches back from you.

We have just addressed the patrilineal line.**One would fill in the same forms for the matrilineal (your mother and her mother). This also gives another side of your lineage. You also have grandfathers on that side. Things now begining to become complex. That is why using the FGS, is important. It keeps the names straight in your lines of decent.

From the FSGs you may then build a Pedigree Chart. All the forms are available on the web - search "genealogy forms".

The hay days of free genealogy exchange between far flung family members and professional individual genealogists was from the late 80s to thru the early 2000s. Much of that information has been swept up and organized by "Pay-for-view sites" There is still some private exchange but it seems to have been wrung out by the overwhelming popularity of the process and the data in private hands.

If one just concentrated on ones name line, it soon becomes a huge undertaking. One has to ask questions of family and friends and then one must dig into documentary evidence in family archives and public records. Soon it take on qualities of being a sort of obsessive compulsive disorder.

Short answer, genealogy is the study of ones family history back through the generations.