How far back can you really trace your tree?

Question:I have traced my father's line to about 1500.

I have a friend who says that he traced his tree all the way back to Ceopatra. Is this possible?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have traced my father's line to about 1500.

I have a friend who says that he traced his tree all the way back to Ceopatra. Is this possible?

Pre-700 AD, the records are skimpy, unless you're the direct descendent of a major doge or Roman senator. There are records tracing back to the days of the emperors, mainly through the Roman Senators. But you can't get there if you're not a Roman AND a direct descendent.

If you're from one of the tribal lands in Europe, especially Frankish or Germanic, you can't reliably go back before 600 AD. There are lineages tying the Merovingians to Jesus through a daughter named Tamar. But to get there, you'd have to believe Jesus had three children with Mary Magdalene and that they escaped to France and were given refuge by the Franks. It is a bit of an unsubstantiated turn in history.

No, it's not reliably established that Cleopatra has living descendents. Your friend found something fanciful, but I'm pretty confident in saying its credibility is at issue.

As for normal people with non-royal lineages, Catholics can go back to the early 1400s if they can locate the parishes. The Dutch can readily go back to the 1100s, even though there are no "surnames" before the 1800s and some of the records are split between 4 countries. Some English can go back to the Norman conquest. Germany and Scandinavia can only go back before 1400 if their lines were nobe and their ancestors literate landowners...and then it's usually only the male lines that are easily traced.

Well I had someone tell me they traced their family all the back to Adam and Eve. I thought that was kinda far-fetched. But the truth is if you can trace it to royalty, then those records are well-kept. Before that, some say you can use the Bible to trace back, but I haven't gotten that far yet. :)

As long as your friend has good solid documentation to back it up, you can believe it.

There are lots of website with family trees but the trees are user submitted and not documented or poorly documented. A lot of people are copying without verifying. So often times when you hear someone say they have traced their family tree back to
Ceasar, that is what they have done. I understand some people are deliberately making up things just to see how many people will copy them.

Also most people in England did not have surnames until the 14th century. When they got through legitimate sons of the same man could each have a different surname but still they each shared their surnames with others with whom they were not related.
So when you get too far back then you have another challenge trying to figure out who people were.

Good valid genealogy requires documentation all along the way. No one can trace their family back to Adam and Eve because there aren't any documents to back it up.

Everyone can go back to 1850 fairly easy with Census records after that it gets sticky and you have to go through alot of other records, Court Records, Estate Records, local town records, Pension records etc.

I traced mine back to where people discovred Roanoke, Virginia

The single most important number one issue with genealogy is documentation.

I cannot say how far back you can realistically go. I have a cousin who has been at it for 25 years with my Reynolds line, and she has everything thoroughly documented, and it ties into a Royal line, so that stuff is further documented. I have found other sources on-line for other branches of my tree that people have done where I supposedly descend from Cleopatra also, as well as Caesar, Charlemagne, etc. I do not know if I buy it or not. But, when I get to the point that I am that far back in my own research and documentation, then I guess I will know.

It is possible. I didn't think so until the websites spat out numerous pedigree charts on my Mother's line going clear back to 6 AD. Then another historic chart from the 1933 World's Fair, which mapped some of the royal families of Europe, had some of my Mother's family names and took them clear back through Biblical records to Adam and Eve. I was stunned when I saw all that. I don't know where it came from but somebody wrote it down and claimed it to be good information. It is amazing and fun to see all those names pop up on the computer screen.
Go to a Family History Center near you and see how far back you can go.

Most people will tell you the 1500's is about it, give or take a decade. If you can get to Charlemagne, you can get to Adam, but that takes WAY more faith than I have in the Bible, historical records and the scholarship of some clerks in the middle ages whose royal employers said "Prove my Royal line or find a new job, ace."

If you get to Charlemagne, you generally do so through minor royalty. Most of us who have royal blood got it because the king trifled with the maid, who in turn may have trifled with someone else but let her fatherless son take on airs, because he wasn't going to get anything else.

It is virtually impossible to go back so far in many cases, surnames can be altered slightly, birth registration not compulsory until 1800s, then only for boys, girls were optional. It is too easy to follow the wrong track, Parish Records provide information that is helpful, I find it amusing the difference in research results by my relations.