Basically, this means all members of your families. Begin the process with your own name, after which, try to work backwards to the name of your parents and then the names of the parents of your parents, and so on. Check with legal documents It would be best to look for your own birth certificate as this basically contain the names of your parents as well as the dates of their births. These make up about 10% of today's family names. For example, John the white (so named because of his paleness), John with the long beard and John the young. Later on, these names changed to John White, John Long and John Young. Other names derived from an ancestor's distinguishing traits are Baines, which means 'bones' and describes a thin man, Armstrong, Black and Longfellow. Along with every surname is the location, date, info as to how it is one could contact the particular person who sent the specific surname. This tool is what most genealogists online utilize to connect with each other as well as share info. Communicate, communicate, communicate Still, the best way to make good progress in one s research of their genealogy is through constant communication with those who is a lot experienced in terms of genealogical searches. It is important in matters requiring an heir, especially to royal titles. Tracing back a person's family history can mean the difference between the crown and the boot. Genealogy is also used to confirm or deny legitimacy and is a very useful tool in determining diseases that have a huge impact to modern-day families. Despite of its achievements, most people of the last century view it as a sub standard in the phonetics of Western Languages. Because of this, China thought of eliminating these characters in the year of 1950. Up to now, a lot of Chinese are still not aware of their writing system tradition. On this article, we will try to understand Chinese characters so that we can appreciate its existence. Another place to get help in the family history search, which is still, is from the census bureau. The United States as well as other developed countries has put this database online for family members to see. Obituaries are not able to tell much about a former relative. Looking in a site called USGenWeb can provide a description about the character especially if that person was quite popular.