The early years of genealogy research In primitive societies, genealogy is often established with a god, a hero or a fantastic animal as the earliest ancestor. Even the great Alexander of Macedonia traced his roots to the gods of Greece. It was not uncommon for a royal to claim a god as his grandfather. You can search for surnames at no cost, although you'll need an online subscription to take a look at other family trees. Memberships cost from $70 to about $200. If you're not sure about their services yet, sign up for their free trial which will allow you to use their Family Tree Maker and Genealogy Library. Sometimes, knowing the meaning of the ancestor s last name could also be of help. Do foreign language family name search. Search engines that are in foreign language can be accessed in Google. It offers 140 versions of international search engines. MSN can also be a good source. The site that claims to have the biggest collection of family history (which comes in free, thank goodness! As people begin to gather information about past generations, they do not only unearth the names of their ancestors but also such information as the way they have lived their lives and what motivated them. In the process, other relevant information such as political setting, conditions in the society, and how their ancestors have immigrated could also be established. This is a registry that contains more than a million surnames as submitted by almost three hundred thousand genealogists online. 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. The purpose of the family history center is to help eliminate any need to have to travel to Utah, Salt Lake City just to use the collection records. Believe it or not, a lot of the electronic data as well as microfilms collections are generally accessible through the family history centers all over the world.