How do I get to know who my ancestors were?

Question

Is my only option paying a specialist to do it?

My family is Brazilian and there is almost nothing about it. They are probably portuguese immigrants, I guess. The oldest people in my family don't remember much about their ancestors, so I'm having a hard time. :(

Answer 1

You mean besides Adam and Eve? or Out of Africa?
Start by asking all your living relatives for all the information on the topic they can provide. Write it all down, organize it, don't forget to write down who said what (source).
Then, you can go online, go to your library and consult books, etc.
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/

Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org

For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

For Sweden:
http://www.genline.com/databasen/
-http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?...
http://www.finlandia.edu/catalog/intro.p...

For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigration.html
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerlists/
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/passenger-arrival.html

For those with native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...

Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl

For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com

For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/

Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...

Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...

Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...

Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...

http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...

http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...

Finding live people:
Two good places I use are www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com

Don't forget, use your local library. Ours (a small one, yet) has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals, books and guidance from an experienced genealogist.

Keep good notes on where you find what: sources are very important.

There are so many sources out there; if you get started, you will probably be in the position I am in: so much information that you don't have the time to catalog it all.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Start a tree with yourself first then your parents and grandparents, greatgrandparents and so on. Talk to relatives first to get as deep as you can and collect vital statistics like birth, death, and marriage dates and places. When you run out of info from living relatives move on to historical societies and Internet searches. Ancestry.com has a ton of records but it is a pay site, they do offer free trial subscriptions. Family history is never ending and always growing. It can take some hunting, but some census information is online and free. Census information can give you your Grandpa at age two and his siblings and parents, then continue collecting data and working your way back through history. Start by Googling "family history, or ancestry" and you will quickly pick up tips and pointers. Remember there are some places(states,counties) that will have more information available online than others. Don't forget to check out your family cemetery.

Answer 3

You could edit your question and give some names/dates for your grandparents or great-grandparents, and maybe someone here could trace it for you. You could pay a specialist, but they charge by the hour (can get very expensive). The fun is seeing how far you can get by doing it yourself. I'd be glad to help. :)

Answer 4

If you want to start your own genealogy search it starts with you. Get you mother and father's full name, date/place of birth, and their parents full name's, and date/place of birth. Then as you can go to Family Search .com or LDS.org both have tools to help you do your own genealogy. Good luck and remember it will take some long patience

Answer 5

You could ask existing family members or try google

Answer 6

Ask your parents and grandparents. Family Search.org is free.